Daria Takes Charge
by dmsfanman
Summary: Back in Lawndale and teaching at Lawndale State University Daria is trying to create a "normal" life. Unfortunately, she finds out that normalcy can be startlingly interrupted! Sometimes events require that we dig down deep and find strength we didn't know that we had. This is the third book in my series on a much more mature Daria. Chapters will be added as they are ready.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

In my first two books – Daria in the Ring and Daria on the Sideline – we followed Daria through profound changes in her life followed by her healing after a crash that taught her she was in fact loved by many people. She reconnected with so many of her canon acquaintances who had changed profoundly since the days at Lawndale High. But change comes with both time and maturity. Now in their early 30's the characters are all pulled in some way to join the mainstream of society. Daria is no exception.

One of the great quotes from canon comes from the episode Road Worrier: "Why didn't I just stay home, where it's nice and quiet and nothing ever happens?" In this book Daria has a job that truly fits her. She can do what she wants to do. She has Tom for love and support. She has the ability to try and create a new normal even as things around her seem at times to swirl in chaos – sometimes to the point of her alter ego coming to the forefront. Yet, more profound change is on the horizon for her. Short of becoming a hermit there is no way for her sentiment stated in the back of the Tank to actually be a long term strategy. Even being a hermit is not possible any more. Events have taken her too far along life's road for that to be an option. Daria must take charge of her life and many events around her.

While you don't need to read my first two books to enjoy this one, it certainly wouldn't hurt! My approach to writing these stories is that I try to stick to canon as closely as possible and then extrapolate. In their interactions with the real world I try to portray it with the greatest possible realism, though I do take a little artistic license here and there. In that way I hope to deliver the familiar characters in new and exciting situations.

Finally, I would like to thank my readers and especially those who have chosen to "favorite" or "follow" my work. I am humbled. For you I strive to deliver the quality you expect. I am blessed to have my family, who have helped me immensely. For a complete list of my work please go to my profile on . I keep it up-to-date with my latest stories about Daria.

Now come with me to Lawndale and find out what is up with our favorite heroine – Daria. I truly hope you enjoy reading this book.

dmsfanman

 _For this entire book please note:_

 _Daria and all the characters of the show are the property of MTV and are used without expressed permission. This work is fan fiction and was created purely for the enjoyment of the author and those who choose to read it. This is not for sale and no income is to be derived from it._


	2. Chapter 1: Making the Grades

**Chapter 1: Making the Grades**

Daria looked up at the clock hanging in the kitchen. It was just after 1:00 am. She was sitting at the table in the dining area of the townhouse trying to finish her grades for the fall semester. It had been a long and difficult evening, but the rewards of running this marathon would be substantial. The thought of actually running a marathon crossed her mind. 'Eeew,' she thought. Athletic competition held no excitement for Daria.

She was fortunate that even though she was the newest professor in her department she had been assigned classes with final exams the first two days of finals week. Now early on this Wednesday morning she needed to concentrate and make this final push to complete her grades. Her attention returned to the tablet and keyboard. It was logged into Lawndale State University's learning management system.

She had decided to work down here so as not to disturb Tom as he slept in their bedroom. She was concerned that the light from the second bedroom which she used as her office would keep him awake. Just a dozen or so grades left to calculate in this last class.

Daria took a sip of her now cold coffee. Despite what her doctor had said she couldn't totally give up caffeine right now. Besides, the information she had found in her searches of reputable websites showed that pregnant women could have a cup or even two of coffee every day. Alcohol she could manage without. At least she had cut her coffee consumption by over half. Tonight she needed it, though. She had to stay sharp to get her final exams graded and these grades calculated and entered. This was the second night in a row she was doing this. 'OK,' Daria thought to herself. 'Concentrate and get this done! Then you can go to bed.' She stretched, ran her hands through her shoulder length auburn hair, and adjusted the oval glasses on her oval face. Then she got back to work.

Finally, Daria entered the last of her grades and logged out of the learning management system. She looked up at the clock. It was ten minutes before two in the morning. Her first semester as a professor of English literature was now complete. She sat back in her chair and reflected for a moment. Her juniors and graduate students were pretty good. They were actually interested in the course material and had all earned passing grades. A few even showed real promise. That made Daria smile.

'Freshman are a totally different breed,' she thought. Freshmen here were much like those she taught when she was a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York. In a class of 30 there were maybe 3 or 4 truly interested in the material. The rest were just trying to fulfill a prerequisite. Half were probably more interested in the girl or boy next to them or their phones. A few weren't even committed to doing the work. Those were the two students who earned failing grades in her class. She knew it might get annoying early next semester. First, the students might come to her wanting 'extra work' to improve their grades. She would, of course, deny that request. That would be unethical and a violation of university policy. Coursework had to be completed during the period the class was offered, unless there were significant extenuating circumstances that would warrant the student petitioning for a grade of 'incomplete.' Their second tactic would be to likely go and complain to her department chair that she was unfair, hated them, a bad teacher, was showing who knows what kind of bias, or some other stupid complaint they concocted. Since they were freshmen they might even have mommy or daddy call the dean of the college. In the end Daria would win. She would simply show her chair or the dean that these students had simply failed to turn in half of the assignments for her class. The rest of their work was poor as well.

Daria got up and headed for the kitchen to put her coffee mug in the dishwasher. She also poured herself a large glass of ice water. It was going to be a little while before she would be able to sleep. The caffeine in the coffee worked! Daria walked to the living room and sat down on the couch. The last two days of the Lawndale Star-Herald were sitting on the coffee table. She was behind on the newspaper due to the demands of the end of the semester. Daria wondered if she and Tom were anachronisms. They still actually had a paper newspaper delivered every day to their home. They didn't just read the news online. There was still something comforting about sitting at the table with a collection of large sheets of paper reading the news and the features. Growing up it was one of the few things that she really had the opportunity to share with her father, Jake Morgendorffer. At least she didn't share his neuroses and other 'issues.' Thankfully she wasn't a workaholic like her mother, Helen. That would be so unfair to Tom.

While musing about the newspaper Daria suddenly realized that she had a craving for peanuts. She got up off of the couch and walked back to the kitchen. She found a small can of salted peanuts in the cabinet and opened it. No telling how long it had been there. As she pulled the first nut from the can it occurred to her that her baby was just a little bigger than a peanut in the shell this week. Tom seemed truly excited about becoming a father even though this pregnancy was not planned. After the car accident the doctor had taken her off of all medications, except what he had prescribed. Daria had been off of work for six weeks and there had been a couple of nights where she really needed Tom. Oh well, after five years of marriage they were starting to get the question of 'When are you going to start a family?' from some of the relatives. It was probably easier to have a baby than keep coming up with snarky comments. Daria took the can of peanuts back to the couch in the living room and sat down.

Daria still did not feel like reading anything, so she pulled out her phone and sent a text message to Jane Lane, her best friend. 'Still up?' she wrote. Moments later Daria felt her phone vibrate. She had silenced it so that nothing would wake Tom. The display showed that it was Jane calling. Daria answered the call.

"Hey amiga," Jane said. "What are you doing up? I'm just cleaning paint brushes before going to bed. I thought pregnant women were supposed to get lots of sleep. You know, save it up before being the food source every two hours."

"I just finished my grades for the semester and posted them," Daria responded just above a whisper. "Now I don't have to go into the office tomorrow and I can sleep late – like maybe until noon. There definitely won't be any sleeping until noon in a few months."

"Ah, the life of the professor," Jane said. "Now you can just stare out the window and contemplate the world!"

"Very funny," Daria deadpanned. "I could say the same about artists."

"Maybe, but if we don't actually paint something and sell it we become starving artists," Jane retorted.

Daria came back with, "And professors have to do research and publish papers or we don't get tenure, which also leads to starvation. You know the whole 'publish or perish' thing. I wouldn't want to have to eat Tom. He might not like it."

"Good comeback even at this hour, Daria," Jane said. "So what is on your mind in the wee hours of the morning?"

"I just felt like hearing your voice," Daria said. "I couldn't help but let my mind wander as I sat here. I've been drinking coffee to stay alert and get these grades finished. Now that I'm done I don't think I will be able to sleep for a while. I certainly don't want to go up and just toss and turn. Tom has to go to work in the morning."

"That is pretty thoughtful of you," Jane responded.

"Once I get up tomorrow I need to start working on packing. We leave on our trip Friday," Daria said.

"So you two are really going to do the 'last trip before a family' after all?" Jane asked.

"Yeah," Daria said. "Tom had enough miles saved in his frequent flier program for a ticket for himself. I was able to get a research initiation grant from the university to help pay for my ticket. We will mix some business with our pleasure."

"Where did you finally decide to go?" Jane asked.

"We will fly to London and spend five days there. I have some research to do at the British Library. That will take me about three days. Then we will take the train to Paris and stay for three days. We will arrive in Munich the day before Christmas Eve and stay there for 4 days. To save time we will then fly to Prague and then on to Vienna for New Year's Eve. Finally, two days after New Year's we will fly back to London and then home."

Jane came back in an imitation of an upper crust accent, "Are the Sloanes going to take the private jet?"

Daria answered with a bit of annoyance in her voice, "No. We are flying commercial. Besides, it is the company's jet. Tom will only have a couple days of business on this trip. And when we fly from Munich to Prague we will be on one of those discount European airlines."

Jane said, "Oh, well taking a discount airline makes up for all of it."

Daria shot back, "You are jealous that Tom and I are going to Europe for Christmas and New Year's! You and Jim could go if you want. It is not like he is lacking money!" Jim Greeley was Jane's fiancé.

"I'm just giving you a hard time," Jane replied. "Jim and I are saving up for our honeymoon. Well, it is mostly Jim. We are still trying to decide if we should spend two weeks in Paris or Australia. It is a matter of whether to go see the world's greatest art or some totally breathtaking landscapes and animals. I want us not only to have great memories, but I want something to inspire my art as well."

Daria said, "You two are going to have to decide pretty soon. Your wedding is less than four and a half months away! You need to make reservations."

"Well, we did make some decisions on the wedding. We will get married in Lawndale. The wedding will be at Casa Lane with the actual ceremony in the gazebo. I figure since I paid to have that stupid thing rebuilt all those years ago I might as well get some good out of it! The reception will hopefully be outdoors on the lawn. I am sure that I can get someone to mow it! Should I have Pizza King cater the reception just for old times' sake?"

In her perfect deadpan voice Daria answered, "Now you are just being silly Jane. If you try and serve pizza someone will get to dump it on your dress! Probably someone from Mystic Spiral."

Jane came back with, "That shouldn't happen. I plan to have them play for the reception. They won't get close enough to stain my dress."

"Having Spiral play will really make the event memorable. I can just hear them singing something like Trent's song 'Betrayal' for your wedding dance," Daria said.

Jane's retort had a false note of excitement, "Well they don't do covers!"

Daria deadpanned again, "Are you going to have your brother Wind read something about wedded bliss during the ceremony as well?"

"Don't be silly Daria. Instead I thought Monique could sing a song during the wedding. You know her powerful voice can shatter glass," Jane said.

"Or curdle milk," Daria responded. "You seriously need to get your plans finished."

Jane said, "Truthfully, we are thinking of having Monique do a song during the ceremony, but we will have a DJ for the reception."

"I hear 'The Spatula Man' is available. You could get 'Mental for the Marriage' or something," Daria once again deadpanned.

"Fatigue or hormones must be setting in Daria," Jane responded. "There is no way that creep is coming to my wedding. His hounding us to be on his stupid radio show the week your dad had his first heart attack was enough contact with him for one lifetime and that was how many years ago?."

Daria said, "Point well taken. It has been 14 or 15 years since that week."

"You need to organize my Bachelorette Party matron-of-honor," Jane said. "And I don't want it to be like an evening with the book club."

Daria replied, "Depends on the book! For all you know I could be planning a wine tasting to accompany Victorian era smut. That could be fun."

"I think you need to let Tom plan more of your entertainment, Daria," Jane responded. "Maybe he needs to take you to more clubs."

"We go to the club with his parents at least a couple of times per month," Daria said.

"Not the county club, Daria. You know what I mean. Something more upscale and fun but still kind of having the excitement the Zon did for us back in the day," Jane said.

Daria responded in total deadpan, "But probably without the patrons vomiting on our shoes, right?"

"Right," Jane said. Then there was a pause.

Looking at the clock Daria realized it was almost three in the morning. Time to go to bed. She said to Jane, "Well you get your wedding ceremony straight and I will work on your party. I need to get to bed."

"Good night Daria. Sleep well. You know that I miss you, right?" Jane said.

"I miss you too, Jane," Daria replied. "You sleep well too!" Then she ended the call.

Daria walked quietly up the carpeted steps to the bedroom. There she slipped out of her clothes, put on her flannel nightgown and crawled into bed. Tom rolled over, gave her a kiss and promptly fell back to sleep. Soon Daria was asleep as well.


	3. Chapter 2: Preparations

**Chapter 2: Preparations**

Standing there kissing his wife Tom took in all of the sensations. The softness of Daria's lips was something which was part of her natural beauty. She might not be one to smile much, but she was very dexterous with her lips! The smell of her shoulder length auburn hair filled him and brought him comfort and a feeling of peace. Daria's complexion was nearly perfect – even without makeup. The warmth of her petite five foot three frame against him calmed him and stimulated him at the same time. Feeling her arms around him simply made him feel good. This was the woman he loved. This was the woman carrying his child.

When their lips parted Daria was the first to speak. "You seem glad to see me!"

Tom replied, "I'm always glad to see you. Why should tonight be any different?"

Daria came back with, "I don't know. You just seem extra passionate and at the same time a little pensive."

"It was just on the drive home I started reminiscing about our last trip to the Cove," Tom said.

"A whole month ago!" Daria retorted. In her best deadpan she said, "Is this some fantasy about ancient history?"

Tom chuckled, "I love your sense of humor. Yes, it is reminiscing. I was just thinking of what a great weekend we had there."

"Come help me prepare some dinner and we can talk about it," Daria said.

Tom followed Daria into the kitchen and the two started making dinner. Tom thought that two of the great things about them as a couple were that they could both cook well and that they could work in the kitchen together without getting on each other's nerves or in each other's way. Depending on what they were making, one person took the lead and the other followed. Tonight it was stir fry. That meant that Daria was on the wok and cutting vegetables. Tom was on rice and chicken prep.

"So, what got you thinking about our last trip to the Cove?" Daria asked.

Tom started, "Well, first it was a really busy day at the office. I had a video conference with a new client and the client's Chief Financial Officer. The company just completed a round of venture financing and is now in a really good cash position. They want to manage their cash to get the most out of it as they grow. Their sales have more than doubled in each of the last two years and they are trying to keep up with the demand without blowing through all of their cash. I'm leading our team that will develop the plan for them. They are a British company looking to expand their services into the U.S. This really puts me 'back in the saddle' after I was working with a reduced load following your accident and during your recovery."

"Will this affect our plans to go to leave for Europe Friday?" Daria asked.

"No," Tom replied. "On the days when you are doing your research work in London I will go into our London office and have video conferences with my team and do some of my work as well. I will probably do half days and just this project. I had the vacation time approved for our trip before we got this client."

Tom went on, "Back to your original question, I was also thinking over lunch about our life together and how it is about to change. I have had you all to myself for years. I haven't had to share you with much of anyone else, except maybe Jane."

Daria inserted, "Don't forget my doctoral advisor. Let's face it. Being a doctoral candidate is the last legal bastion of slavery."

Tom laughed. "That is true. He did keep you busy and you had some real stress at times. And let's face it; this is not the first time our lives have changed. We started dating again the summer before our senior year of college. We both graduated and took jobs in New York. We got engaged. We got married. You got your doctorate and we moved back to Lawndale so that you could teach at Lawndale State and I took the job at Grace, Sloane, and Paige. We have settled in nicely here together. Now a new someone is going to come into our lives and will be part of us for the rest of our lives. Maybe that is what got me thinking about the Cove."

As she listened, Daria pulled plates out of the cupboard and plated their food. She and Tom each took their plates and silverware and sat down at the table. Tom grabbed mugs and the pot of tea he had brewed – decaf of course. Daria was supposed to avoid caffeine during her pregnancy, though he knew she was having a couple cups of coffee each day. He served the tea and sat down.

Tom went on, "Don't misunderstand me. I have no qualms about the baby or building our family. I've loved you since we were teens."

"Ah ha!" Daria inserted. Trying to lighten Tom's mood a bit she added, "Thus you admit your wily plan to chase me down and carry me away!"

Tom replied, "Guilty. That too is part of why I was thinking about our last trip to the Cove." Then Tom started to reminisce.

…..

It started when it was almost lunch time on a cloudy Saturday morning. Tom woke up and realized Daria was not in the bed. Tom got up and pulled on a pair of jeans and an old Bromwell sweatshirt he pulled out of his bag. Even after all these years since graduation the sweatshirt still fit. He slipped on his boating shoes. Tom didn't like walking around this house barefoot. Then he started looking around for Daria. One thing about the old house at the Cove was that there were plenty of places to go off and be alone.

Tom looked through all the rooms upstairs and then downstairs as well. Lastly he checked the kitchen. The dishes were still in the sink from their early breakfast. Daria had even laughed when she dipped toast into the yolk of her fried egg and covered the end of his nose with it. He told her she had to "kiss it off" and she did! It was so rare to see her in a truly playful mood. But clearly she was not in the kitchen or anywhere else in the house.

Tom looked at the thermometer outside of the window. It was barely ten degrees above freezing. Hardly bitterly cold, but certainly not warm either. He went and grabbed one of the old lined flannel coats they kept in the house for anyone to use. It smelled vaguely of stale cigar smoke. Then he walked outside.

Outside he started looking around for Daria. The leaves had all fallen from the trees, so the landscape was a bit stark. There were a number of benches and sets of tables and chairs where family members could sit, talk, play cards or checkers, or any number of slow and often dull activities. Many memories of summers at the Cove came back to Tom almost instantly. He even had a tinge of melancholy as he thought of the relatives who had played with him as a child and were no longer around. After a few minutes he spotted Daria in the distance. She was sitting on the dock.

As he walked toward Daria he could see what she was doing. His wife of five and a half years was sitting on the dock in another of the lined flannel coats. Her shoes were sitting next to her and her legs were bare! Daria had never been one to focus on her appearance. She wanted to be judged by her character, mind, and accomplishments. None of that meant that she didn't have great legs. Anytime she would wrap her legs around him it set him on fire. He just watched for a moment as she took her shapely left leg and dipped her toes in the water. Then she did the same with her right leg.

Tom walked up to Daria and asked, "Are you contemplating a swim? If so, then I would suggest a wet suit. That water is getting pretty cold."

"If I jumped in then you would have to rescue me," Daria replied. "Then you would have to serve your function of keeping me warm."

"I will keep you warm anytime – inside and out!" Tom remarked.

Daria deadpanned, "You did a pretty good job of that this morning after breakfast."

"Always my pleasure sweet love of mine," Tom said. "So what are you doing out here without a pair of pants to keep you warm?"

Daria mumbled, "I'm wearing shorts and I was just thinking."

Tom sat down on the rough wood next to his wife and placed his hand on her right leg. It was definitely cold to the touch. He pulled her close to him and rubbed her bare skin to try and warm her a bit. He said, "It must be something important if you are sitting out here like this in the cold air.

Daria looked up at Tom's face and just said, "Kiss me and hold me." Tom immediately obliged. He held Daria close for several minutes. Neither said anything.

After a while Tom asked, "Would you like to tell me what you were thinking about?"

Daria answered, "It was more like a flood washing over me than a single thought. I was chastising myself for so easily becoming part of the world of the privileged. We have our occasional annoyances, but no real struggles like so many young couples. In my research I have been reading about experiences of people just after the Second World War. It was horrible. They struggled for simple survival. Couples in this country have struggles that we don't. Today in other places they struggle like the people after the war. How can I live such a privileged life?"

Daria continued, "What struggles do I face? I teach and read books for a living. My greatest job fear is not making tenure in 5 years. So many people don't know if they will have a job tomorrow. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. Yet we don't really have to worry about money. Who am I to have that kind of privilege? Who am I to have that kind of security?"

"The world is or at least can be a terrible place," Daria went on. "Why are we bringing another human being into this? What kind of future will he or she have? Are we crazy? Am I after all these years of striving for a rational view of the world so driven by my desires that my desire for you now has lifelong consequences not only for me but for you and our child? Who am I that I should make that decision? Am I really no better than the people I have scorned for living by their emotions and desires? What have I done? What have I become? Have I betrayed everything I ever held as truth?" Daria paused, took a breath and then continued, "What kind of a mother will I be? Neglectful like mine? A helicopter parent? Overinvolved? Under involved? Will I push you away? Will my baby love me or hate me in the years to come? How will I determine the right things to do?"

Tom tightened his grip on his wife. He kissed her gently on the top of her head. "Pour it out to me," Tom said. Daria just stayed silent. After a few more minutes he stood up and picked her up in his arms. Daria weighed barely more than a hundred pounds (45 kg). Still it was a strain on Tom's arms and back to carry her uphill back and into to the house.

Tom laid Daria down on a couch and covered her with a throw. Kneeling beside her he tilted her face toward himself and gently kissed her lips. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a very deep kiss. When their lips parted Tom said to her, "Daria, you are the love of my life and we will raise our children together. The burden is never solely on your shoulders. I am your partner in all things. We know darn well that our parents made it up as they went along. You are the most intelligent woman I have ever known. Your mind continually awes me. We will read, discuss, and plan how to manage our family and raise our children."

Looking deeply into Tom's gray eyes Daria said weakly, "You are such an accountant."

"Yes I am," Tom replied. The he looked deeply into her brown eyes and said, "And you are such an academic. As an academic you research, think, ponder, and eternally ask questions. We need people like you. You ask the questions and gather data. I put it in an understandable form and make plans. All in all it is not a bad combination!"

Tom got up, walked across the room and started dragging a straight wooden chair. He set it next to the couch and sat down. He lifted Daria's left hand, kissed it, then put it back down but continued to hold it in his. "Privilege is not something unique to me. You may not have grown up in an 'old money' family, but your parents made good incomes and you never wanted for anything. They paid for a top flight education for you at Raft. Few families can do that. I agree that we avoid many struggles that other young couples do either in this country or other countries. But, privilege – by which you are really meaning wealth – in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. The question is: What are you going to do with that wealth? If you hoard it for yourself, then you have abused the gift given to you. If you manage it and use it for the benefit of your children, the community, and the wider world, then you can do good things in ways that others without your level of wealth cannot."

Tom went on, "Privilege also has a dimension of time. It is having time to do good things. You earned the privilege of being able to be a professor at a university. You have the privilege of time to pursue your research interests. You hold the only title of nobility conferred in this country – Doctor. You are a Doctor of Philosophy. With that comes your privilege of time. I have neither the title nor the privilege to be a university professor. You were not born to that, but you worked hard to earn it Dr. Sloane. I watched you struggle in graduate school. That first year in New York before we were engaged I was concerned you weren't able to afford enough food on your Sick Sad World pay. It was even worse when we were engaged and you were trying to live on your graduate student pay. You had that tiny apartment, but there was rarely food in it. I wanted to spend every minute with you, but I also pressured you to go out to eat so much because I wanted to make certain you weren't malnourished! You hardly need to lose weight! You struggled, but struggles come to an end. They can be conquered."

Daria gave Tom a mildly annoyed look, but he continued anyway, "We have not had a conversation about what we should do in the way of philanthropy. That is something we can do in the coming months. We can alleviate suffering in the world and we can help people conquer the things they struggle against. We can decide how we will do good things with our wealth and time. Our first duty will be to our children. They will need to learn to love, to work, and to be responsible. We will discuss this too."

"Thank you Tom. You always seem to know what to say to me. I would be very lonely without you," Daria said in total deadpan, "I think my hormones were going crazy there for a while. The things I have read said that it is part of the first trimester of pregnancy. You don't mind having a crazy wife do you?"

"I have you and that is all that counts," Tom said. "Now let me make some soup for us. It's lunchtime already!"

…..

Back in the present Daria sat and looked at Tom as he finished reminiscing. In her best deadpan Daria said to him, "You know that story would be even better if I died of 'consumption' on the couch while you tearfully held my hand."

Sipping his tea Tom replied, "Fortunately we live in a time and place where tuberculosis is exceedingly rare." He went on, "So about our talk of benevolences: should we help the starving, the saviors, or the stupid?"

"God you're insensitive," Daria deadpanned. "I think you have been adding too many columns of numbers Mr. Scrooge."

"Don't be silly," Tom replied. "That is why I employ Bob Cratchett, though the fiend filched an extra lump of coal for the fire today. I will have to remember to charge that against his pay."

Daria's phone began to emit her general ringtone. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked to see who was calling. Given the tone this conversation had adopted she took the call. "Hello," Daria answered.

"Oh good. I'm glad that I caught you," the man with the high gentle voice Daria had known since first arriving in Lawndale as a high school sophomore said. "This isn't a bad time is it? You know that I certainly wouldn't want to disturb you."

Daria replied, "Not at all. Tom and I just finished dinner. He was just reminiscing about our last weekend at his family's retreat. What can I do for you Father?"

Tom rolled his eyes and started picking up the empty dishes. He knew that if it was Father Tim O'Neill on the other end of this call, then the conversation could take a while.

"Well, first I just wanted to thank you again for helping us at the parish food pantry last weekend. Your involvement really made a difference."

Daria responded, "You're welcome. But, I would hardly call what I did involvement. I helped out. I was a pair of hands. But, involvement implies something deeper and you as well as anyone should know after almost 20 years that I rarely get 'involved' with anything. I'd say that I am involved with Tom, my job, and my writing, but not really anything else right now."

Father Tim paused for a moment and then asked, "So have you been able to write again? Since your recovery from the accident I mean," referring to the car accident that had Daria off of work and recovering for six weeks earlier in the fall.

"It has been hit and miss. I've started producing adequate material and I am getting caught up to the deadline my publisher set for me. I should be able to deliver the draft of the book on time," Daria answered. "I just thought the quality of writing in this Melody Powers novel would be my best so far. Now I think it will be middle of the road."

"I am sure that your fans won't mind," Father Tim said.

"Besides," Daria added. "I really have to focus more on my research and the things that will earn me tenure at the university. Melody is now frankly a nice hobby. I write well enough to publish the books and they sell decently. It is a nice side income. But researching and publishing my work on comparing immediate post World War Two German 'war guilt' literature to contemporaneous British, French, and American writing is where I need to place my efforts. Those papers and presentations at conferences are what will lead to tenure."

"That sounds very heavy," Father Tim said.

"It is," Daria replied. "Some of the work is downright depressing – even for me! The conditions in Europe were truly horrible at that time, especially in Germany."

Father Tim said, "Well, I hope in some small way that I was able to contribute to your writing abilities and love of research. You were my best student ever back when I taught English at Lawndale High. Sometimes even as a teenager you had better insights on people and events than I had."

Daria had to suppress her strong desire for a snarky comment and just said, "I've thought about your class many times over the years." Back when Father Tim was Mr. O'Neill, teaching English, Daria had considered him a regular irritant. 'Wishy washy' was a term that couldn't even adequately describe him. He had been spineless and annoying. His attempts to challenge her had simply made high school even less bearable. The one thing Daria had to admit with a more mature perspective was that he not only meant well, but he had truly liked her and wanted to see her develop her potential.

"You know," Father Tim said. "As you saw last weekend we have people right here in Lawndale facing hard times. Perhaps not in the way people did after the Second World War, but nevertheless they do not have enough money to buy food for their families. I really called to ask for two things. First, I noticed that Lawndale State's semester is now over. Would you be willing to come to the food pantry and help me hand out bags of food to the needy tomorrow? It will be very busy and I sure could use your help. You are really organized and a good worker."

"Sure," Daria said. "What time do you need me to be there?"

"Nine o'clock would be fine. We will open at ten. If you could come earlier that would be helpful," Father Tim said.

Daria responded, "OK. I will be there by nine, but I can't stay past noon. Tom and I are leaving on vacation for the Christmas break late Friday afternoon and I have a few things I still need to do."

Quickly Father Tim went on, "Thanks so much, Daria and thank Tom as well. There is just one other thing, Daria. I have the opportunity to purchase food for a day's meals for a family for just a few dollars per person. However, as always, the food pantry is short of funds. Could I possibly ask you to make a donation? Just a little money would make such a difference to a few families. Do you think you could help some other families have one as well?"

With the conversation she and Tom had just had in her mind, Daria looked over at Tom and said, "Father, I will bring my checkbook and we will donate funds to cover meals for twenty families. Does that help?"

"Oh my yes it does!" Father Tim said with the clear sound of delight in his voice. He went ahead and told Daria how much he would need to cover those meals.

With that they ended their conversation and Daria ended the call. Turning to Tom she said, "Well, I guess tomorrow while you are at work to feed us I will help the starving."


	4. Chapter 3: European Altercation

**Chapter 3: European Altercation**

Daria peered out the window onto the tarmac. People were rushing about getting the last luggage loaded and the flight ready to leave. It really was kind of exciting watching the baggage handlers running back and forth getting everything stowed for the flight. Daria had to admit to herself that she was looking forward to being in Europe again.

She and Tom were flying Business Class and he was positioned slightly behind her and to her left. This made it possible to have the seats which would lie flat and give each person their own little cubicle in the sky. Daria had to admit that the seat was quite comfortable. That would make the next seven plus hours in the air between Baltimore and London reasonably relaxing. What a difference there was between this wide body jet and the "puddle jumper" they had flown on from Lawndale to Baltimore. The seat padding on that plane was clearly inadequate. This cabin was definitely not "cattle class."

As much as it still bothered her a bit, Daria some time ago came to the realization that she liked some of the perks that came with marrying into the Sloane family. It was still at times hard for her to come to grips with that. She hardly came from a background of deprivation, being the daughter or a successful attorney and a marketing consultant. At least Daria could salve her conscious with the fact that most all of the students she taught at Lawndale State University came from lower to middle class backgrounds and many if not most were the first generations of their families to attend college. They were not the privileged elite! It kept her grounded. It kept her in touch with the problems of real people. It kept her from the notion of waiving at the little people from her limousine.

Finally after what seemed too long the purser announced that the door to the aircraft was closed. The flight attendants made their final checks as Daria felt the plane being pushed back. The engines were started and they began taxiing toward the runway. Once they were near the runway, the pilot announced that they were second for takeoff. After a minute or two he positioned the plane on the runway and Daria heard the sound of the engines spooling up. The pilot released the brakes and the thrust of the engines pushed Daria into her seat. It went through Daria's mind that while none of this was miraculous – it was simple physics – nevertheless it was impressive that such a large piece of machinery could fly. As the plane climbed to its transatlantic cruising altitude Daria's mind turned to which wine she would like and the dinner choices. After dinner she planned to stretch out and sleep as much as possible during the flight.

Tom gazed over at his wife. He could only really see the back of her head. It would be rude to call out to her in the business class cabin. Instead, he would wait until the pilot had turned the 'fasten seat belt' sign off and then go over and talk with her a bit. In the meantime he too was thinking about a drink before dinner.

…..

It was Monday morning. Daria and Tom sat in the restaurant of their hotel near Regent's Park. Tom was reading the newspaper and Daria was staring out the window. Daria simply loved London. Daria knew that in her life she had very few true passions. There was her passion for Tom, though she felt a little twinge of guilt that maybe his passion for her was greater than her passion for him. She knew she had a passion for their child growing inside her. There was her passion for learning and for literature. Then there was her passion for this city. It was the nexus of the English speaking world.

London was settled in pre-Roman times. The literary history stretched back to times well before Shakespeare. While she considered monarchy a bit of an anachronism, nevertheless this was the place of kings and queens, as well as knights and ladies. It was certainly a museum crawler's paradise! Her destination today, however, was the British Library. It was the repository of everything from Bede to the Magna Carta to the latest British novels.

The two finished their breakfast and headed out on foot toward King's Cross St. Pancras station. There had been some fog earlier and the temperature was cool. Daria was glad she had her all weather coat. The emerald green cashmere sweater and black slacks she was wearing kept her warm as well. Tom took the subway, also called "The Tube" and formally known as The Underground, to the London office of Grace, Sloane, and Paige. Subways were such a great way to get around. Daria continued walking along Euston Road the couple of blocks to the British Library in order to do some research.

As she walked toward the library it occurred to her that she should buy a postcard or at least snap a picture with her phone of the Codex Sinaiticus for Father Tim. It was one of the oldest Bibles in the world. He would probably enjoy images of some of the illuminated pages of the Canterbury Tales as well. Daria recalled his attempt to stage some of those during the medieval fair Ms. Li had put on at Lawndale High. She really had to wonder if he understood some of the plots in those stories. They weren't necessarily meant for teens!

Daria entered the great building and headed immediately to the desk which provided services for academic researchers. She had arranged to meet one of the research librarians to help her get started in their collections. Daria anticipated a busy and interesting day ahead.

…..

Late in the afternoon Daria had walked back toward the King's Cross train station on Euston Road from the British Library. Patting the tablet in her purse she was thinking about what a productive day it had been. The British Library had a fantastic collection of immediate post-war literature, which was her area of interest. It also had some of the most advanced translation and research services in the world. While the rest of this trip was supposed to be a restful pre-family vacation, nevertheless Daria felt a great sense of professional accomplishment.

The smells of the food stalls outside of the station were really starting to make Daria hungry. Lunch had been a sandwich and coffee in the British Library café. Tom was supposed to meet her in about five minutes. He was taking the Underground from the company offices in order to meet her and take her to dinner. Daria just stood by one of the stalls and kept an eye out for him, though she was thinking of a pre-dinner snack. Must be that kid growing inside that was making her so hungry lately. At least here she had better places than Pizza King to satisfy her appetite.

Presently Tom appeared. He walked out of the King's Cross St. Pancras underground station and started looking for Daria. She thought she would let him look a bit until he found her. No sense making it too easy for him! As she watched she noticed a short man in a raincoat. This was not in and of itself unusual for December. As Tom was walking around looking for her the man was mirroring his moves. Finally, the man found a spot where he could stand and not have to move around so much. His spot gave him a perspective of the whole area in front of the station.

Tom finally spotted Daria and walked up to her. She immediately grabbed him and gave him a big kiss.

"Wow, I guess you missed me!" Tom exclaimed.

Then hugging him she whispered in his ear, "You've grown a tail. There is some guy standing over there in a raincoat. It is almost a bit cheesy. But he is standing about 50 feet behind you and he is watching us."

"I think you are imagining things," Tom said with a chuckle. "Have you been reading too much post-war spy fiction today?"

With a serious note of concern in her voice Daria responded, "I've done enough research for my Melody Powers spy novels that I think I can spot a tail. Let's take a walk. Put your arm around me and nuzzle my hair so that it is less obvious we are talking about our 'friend' over there."

"I can't turn down an offer like that!" Tom replied.

"I'm serious dear," Daria said in a tone that said she meant business. Besides, Tom knew that she only called him 'dear' when she expected something right away.

The two of them walked back toward the British Library and on the way crossed Euston Road. They doubled back toward the post office and then ducked down Crestfield Street and followed it until they could see Argyle Park. They crossed Argyle Square and went into the park. Just inside the park Daria turned, grabbed Tom, spun him around, and started kissing him. After a moment she said, "OK now look behind me and see if you can see the guy with the blue raincoat. He is not very tall and has brown hair."

"I see him," Tom replied.

"OK," Daria said. "Let's go over to that bench. We can kiss and cuddle a little bit. He will have to take up a position to watch, but it is fine with me if he feels uncomfortable. It will give us a chance to talk and figure out what to do next." She added with a little smile, "Just don't get too grabby. We are in public after all. And there is a fair bit of foot traffic through this park."

The two of them went over and sat on the bench. They started kissing. Daria was in the position to keep an eye on their 'watcher' over by a group of trees. When they came up for air Daria asked Tom, "So what's up that gets you a tail? It might be the police, but looking at the guy I am guessing more like MI-5 – except I would expect MI-5 to be competent at this little game."

"Honestly, I have no idea what is going on," Tom replied. "I haven't seen anything with our new clients that would trigger something like this. I might even ask if this is a real tail or if someone is trying to send a message."

"What message would they be trying to send by highlighting your vulnerability?" Daria asked. It was almost a rhetorical question. Worry was rapidly replacing her feelings of accomplishment from earlier. Daria did not like feeling unsafe. She thought she heard Melody Powers clearing her throat in the back of her mind.

Tom pulled out his phone. "Wait," Daria said grabbing Tom's wrist as he went to raise his cell phone and place the call. "How do you know he doesn't have an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) catcher in his pocket? These days they are no larger than a phone. He could not only eavesdrop on your conversation, but even suck the data right out of your phone."

"That's unlikely," Tom said. "The company issued everyone new phones last month. They include the new SecQure technology. Everything on the phone is encrypted. There are maybe a half dozen intelligence agencies in the world that can decrypt the information, but none in real time. Phone to phone calls and texts are secure, when both have SecQure. So are emails between company accounts. We deal with too much sensitive client information – even bank account numbers – not to protect ourselves and our clients."

Daria was still holding Tom's wrist. She said just above a whisper, "Then the only concern would be his ability to home in on the sound of your conversation – maybe even what comes out of your speaker. So, let me pull up my list of podcasts off of my phone. Then I will hit play and the voice will come out of my speaker. I will position my phone to help mask your voice. Hopefully the two voices will be indistinguishable. I'll pick something that should fit the tone of your voice. I have one that is a lecture on apocalyptic literature. He sounds just like you.

Tom looked at his wife and said in a low tone, "Thanks, I think." Then as she started her podcast and it was clearly audible Tom placed the call.

His father answered. "Dad," Tom said. "I just want you to know that someone is tailing me here in London. Do we have a security firm here that could help out? I would like to have a response from them right away."

"Yes we do. We have some clients there that like to keep things very private. Sometimes we need to offer them security to ensure their privacy. Where are you?" Angier Sloane asked.

"We are in Argyle Park on the eastern side. Our tail has parked himself unobtrusively in a group of trees. He is a short man with brown hair wearing a dark blue raincoat. So far I don't think he has figured out that we know he is there," Tom answered.

"Let me make a call and I will send you a text with the response," Angier said and then ended the call.

Tom stuck his phone in his shirt pocket. Then Daria and Tom faced each other, held hands and talked intensely about baby plans. Over the next few minutes they even kissed a few times. Then Daria had an idea. She shifted around and Tom held out his phone and they took a selfie with the two of them. Of course they made certain their tail was in the background. Tom then sent the photo with the short comment of 'tail in back' in a text message to his Dad. About three minutes later he received a text back which read 'Received. Passed on. Help in 3-5 min.'

Daria gave Tom a big kiss again and positioned herself to keep an eye on the tail. At least kissing Tom lifted her spirits. They had been there a total of about twenty minutes when three large and well-dressed men walked up to their tail and effectively surrounded him. They were leaning over him and she could tell they were talking to him rather intensely. It should have been abundantly clear to him that fighting his way out was not going to be an option. The man tailing them walked away. One of the three men from the security firm followed him. Another came over to Tom and Daria.

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Sloane," the man said with what seemed to be the perfect British accent. "My name is Ronald and I am with Thames Services. I hope you weren't too disturbed by this incident. I think we have taken care of the tail – at least for now."

Tom asked, "Thank you for coming so quickly. What did you get for a story?"

"We are always concerned about the safety of our clients Mr. Sloane. As for the man following you, he claims to be a private detective hired by a firm concerned about trusting its money to your firm. We will check out the story. I think it is pretty thin. I think you were most likely picked as a training lesson for someone from MI-5 just learning how to follow people. His business card and firm will probably turn out to be phony. I am guessing he won't get good marks on this assignment," the large man stated.

"I certainly wouldn't give him a passing grade if he were in my class," Daria remarked in total deadpan.

"Just to be certain, we will have a couple of men stay with you – at a discrete distance of course – just to ensure that we have taken care of the problem. How long do you plan to be in the U.K.?" Ronald asked.

Tom replied, "We were planning to be here for another three days and then it is off to Paris."

"Are you planning further travel in Europe after Paris?" Ronald asked.

Daria answered, "After Paris we are going to Munich, Berlin, Prague, and then on to Vienna for New Year's Eve."

Ronald responded, "We have branch offices in each of those cities. I will alert them and I will make certain that each of you has our phone number in each city before you leave London. Now please do not be concerned. Thames 'has your back' as you say in America. Enjoy your time here in London and we will be quietly in the background."

"Thank you Ronald," Tom responded rising and shaking the man's hand. "We feel safer already." Turning to Daria he said, "Let's find some dinner and then go back to the hotel."

Daria and Tom left the park and walked back toward King's Cross St. Pancras station. Thoughts were playing back and forth in Daria's mind. Her hunch was that the MI-5 angle was unlikely. Ronald probably said that just to try and put them at ease. Was the guy really a private eye or something more sinister?

Tom had been looking at an app on his phone, while Daria was thinking and making sure he didn't run into any lamp posts, mailboxes, or people. The app found an upscale restaurant in an ornate hotel right by the station. They went in and were seated. Ronald came in a few minutes later and sat at the bar. The other Thames man came in and sat at a table. After ordering dinner Tom took out his phone and sent a text to his father, 'Thames took care of the problem. Watching us and will provide phone numbers in other cities.'

Daria looked at her husband and deadpanned, "You know it is kind of ironic. We had the problem of someone following us and now the solution involves two people following us."

Tom smiled at his wife and responded, "This is why I love you. You have such a sharp ability to make observations. The difference, of course, is that the first person following us was unknown. These two are known and are working for us. Thus, it is a solution."

Tom's phone vibrated once to indicate a text message was received. His father wrote, 'I checked with Thames. Your escorts are Ronald and Donald. Enjoy yourselves and don't worry.' Tom told Daria about the text.

Daria again said in her typical total deadpan, "Gee, after all this excitement maybe we should just head back to the hotel after dinner."

"Sounds good to me," Tom responded. "As long as we can go to bed right away."

"You're on," Daria replied in total deadpan. "Eventually we might even go to sleep."


	5. Chapter 4: City of Frights

**Chapter 4: City of Frights**

Daria stared out the window of the train. Outside was total and utter blackness. It was the blackest blackness she had ever seen. There was absolutely no light other than the lights inside the train car. It seemed a shame that there was no sensation of the high speed they were traveling. Still, the fact that they were deep under the English Channel was an amazing thought in and of itself.

"Penny for your thoughts," Tom said.

Daria turned to him and answered, "You know I charge a dollar. Or maybe I should get a pound or a euro since we are on this side of the Atlantic."

Tom stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out two British 50p coins, "Here is a pound. Now what is going through my wife's amazing mind?"

Daria responded, "I was just thinking of the millions of tons of dirt and water over our heads. I hope the tunnel holds until we get through! I'm glad the underwater portion of this trip is short."

Tom responded, "I wouldn't worry. You can forget about all the tons of concrete and steel holding up the roof. It is completely safe. Besides, the underwater portion is only 20 minutes of a two and a half hour trip. That isn't bad. Soon we will pop up just east of the coast in France. Hopefully we will have nice weather and can see some of the scenery. Before long we will be in Paris. We'll go directly to our hotel and if they don't have a room ready for us yet, then we will leave the bags and go do some sightseeing and get some lunch."

"Hmm," Daria mumbled. "I am still a little spooked about what happened in London."

"Don't be," Tom said. "Thames Security took care of it. I think it was just an aberration. Now sit back and enjoy the ride. After all, we don't have trains that travel this fast at home!"

Tom put his arm around Daria and gave her a hug. She responded with a hug and gave Tom a quick kiss. As she turned to stare back at the darkness it almost instantly gave way to full sunlight. Daria blinked at the brightness. She refocused her eyes and before her lay the countryside of western France which had just received a very light dusting of snow.

…..

The days in Paris were wonderful. Whether it was the excitement of seeing the city from the top of the Eiffel Tower, the magnificence of Notre Dame, the byzantine style of Sacre Coeur, or the art in the Musee D'Orsay, this had been a great time for the two of them. She had even spent a morning in the National Library gathering additional information for her research. The previous evening they ate at a French chain restaurant called Hippopotamus. Daria wondered what American marketers would say about that name!

Today was their last full day in Paris and they were going to spend it in the Louvre, probably the greatest collection of art on the planet! Given that the weather was cold, windy, and there was a chance of light snow, Daria was just as happy to spend the day inside. Tom had purchased tickets in advance and they didn't have to wait in line. They simply showed up at nine in the morning and were admitted.

Standing in front of the Venus de Milo Daria commented to Tom, "It truly amazes me how the Greeks and Romans had such an understanding of the human form and all of that was lost due to wars and the collapse of civilizations. It really makes you wonder about our civilization. What will happen during our child's lifetime? Will we see a great collapse? Will our children or grandchildren go from being technology driven city dwellers to subsistence farmers? Or worse, just simply starve to death?"

Tom chuckled and responded to his wife, "You are little Dr. Sunshine today, aren't you?"

Daria turned to look at Tom. "Just look around us. These are all leftover bits of once great civilizations. Even once we get into more modern times – say the past 500 years – there is still the effect of war and defeat. Not to mention the excesses of various revolutions including our own. There is even the effect that weather changes had on society. There was this thing called the 'little ice age' which put a real damper on human society. They were growing pomegranates in the Danube valley around Vienna in the year 1000. Then the temperatures plunged. People starved from crop failures. Even today you can't grow pomegranates that far North."

"And your point is?" Tom asked.

Daria answered, "Just that I am concerned about our child and his or her future."

"So, is every other parent on the planet, Daria," Tom retorted in his most placating tone. "Don't you think your parents had the same concerns? I know mine sure did. In fact, they still do. Now let's keep working our way along. I'll bet the parents of Mona Lisa were concerned about her future as well."

Daria stopped and looked at Tom. Then she said with distinct irritation in her voice, "Are you dismissing my concerns, dear?"

"Not at all, snookums." Tom knew that Daria hated being called that. But, if she was going to be a downer and call him 'dear' then he needed to do something in his own defense. "I just think that for today we should enjoy the beauty of the art in this museum and the beauty of this city. There is more than enough ugliness in the world. We can deal with that later." Tom turned to directly face her and gently grasped both of her hands. He said very calmly to Daria, "We will make the best environment we can for our children. In the meantime let's hope that we can learn from the mistakes of the past. Now let's just enjoy the museum." Then Tom let go of her hands and walked over to the next display.

…

Daria was tired as she walked into their hotel room. Today they had probably walked at least 8 miles or 12.5 km, after all the metric system was born here. The suite that Tom had arranged for them had a lovely view of the city and consisted of two rooms – a sitting room and a bedroom.

As she walked into the bedroom she stopped cold. Looking around the bedroom Daria's heart rate increased and she could feel herself breathe faster and the adrenaline rise in her system. The emotion she was feeling was not worry. It was fear. "Tom," Daria said in a dead cold tone. "Someone has been in here."

Tom replied matter-of-factly, "The maid cleaned up today. The place looks good."

"Come with me," Daria said. She took Tom by the hand and led him out of their suite and into the hall. Then she started toward the elevator. She rang for the elevator and they got in. She pressed the button for the second floor. Daria turned to Tom and said, "When I looked over at my bag a piece of my underwear was caught in the zipper. Also, the zippers were not in the precise position I left them in this morning. Someone has searched the room. I think you need to call Thames."

"A little paranoid are we?" Tom responded.

The elevator reached the second floor. Daria got out and Tom followed. As soon as the door closed she pressed the up button. The door opened. They got in and she pushed the button for the fourth floor – the one below their floor.

Daria looked Tom in the eye and said with a tone of dead earnest – one he had not heard for a very long time. "Call Thames. I know basic spying tradecraft. I did a story on spying for Sick Sad World when I worked there and had to learn the basics. This is simple tradecraft executed by someone who isn't great at it, but is competent. Most people would not have noticed the signs. I have been a little paranoid since the incident in London and I have kept watch for tails and signs of tradecraft. This is a sign. First make the call and then you and I need to have a little talk."

They reached the fourth floor and again they got out. Next Daria led them to the stairs. Using the stairs they walked down to the ground floor. On the way she whispered to Tom what to do.

Tom walked up to the desk and asked the clerk, "Excuse me, but my mobile is out of battery and I need to make a short but important call. Would there be a phone I could use?"

The desk clerk responded, "If it is a call within France, then please use my company mobile."

"It is within Paris," Tom said.

The man gave him the phone and Tom placed the call to Thames. When the person on the other end answered he said, "This is Mr. Sloane of Grace, Sloane, and Paige. I need to meet with your representatives here at my hotel as soon as possible. We need to come to a decision on the contract." Tom could hear computer keys clicking in the background. The person on the other end asked which hotel he was staying in. After Tom gave the name of the hotel the person stated that three representatives would be there in 20 minutes. Then he hung up.

"Thank you so much I truly appreciate your assistance," Tom told the clerk as he returned the phone to him. He and Daria then sat down in the lobby to wait for the representatives of Thames Security.

Daria said, "We are going to go have a cup of coffee soon and I need you to be honest with me about what is going on. Don't say anything now. Just think about it." Her voice still had a distinct edge to it.

It was only 15 minutes after the phone call when the three men from Thames arrived. They arrived dressed in impeccable business suits. They introduced themselves; Mr. Comte, Mr. Sartre, and Mr. Voltaire. Each carried an identical black leather briefcase. Mr. Sartre seemed to be in charge.

"May we go up to your room to discuss our business in private Mr. Sloane?" Mr. Sartre asked.

"Of course," Tom replied. "My wife is working with me this trip and she is handling the legal language in English."

"Very well," Mr. Sartre said. "Let's go."

Together the group went to the elevator and got in. "So, what is the reason for your call?" Mr. Sartre asked. Daria explained what she had observed and her suspicions. Then he remarked, "You are most observant Dr. Sloane. The vast majority of people would have never suspected." They rode to the top floor of the hotel. There they got off and went to Tom and Daria's room. Just outside the room Mr. Sartre turned to them and said, "Now what I want you to do is go to the café across the street and order coffee – café au lait, specifically. Another of our representatives will join you shortly. We have work to do here. Now please go." Tom unlocked the door and the men from Thames Security l went in.

Tom and Daria headed for the elevator. They took it to the ground floor and went across the street to the café. They sat down next to the windows looking out on the street and ordered their coffee.

"I am tired," Daria said. "When this little episode is over I think I will be ready to just drop into bed."

Tom looked at her, "Is that an invitation?" He asked.

"Don't get any bright ideas there tiger," she responded in total deadpan. "I am tired and I have a headache."

"Oh," Tom said with a note of disappointment in his voice. "After all Paris is the city of love!"

"Mmmph," Daria replied. The waiter returned shortly and they sat and silently sipped their coffee. Daria pulled out her phone and checked what was new on her social media to pass the time. Somehow Kay Sloane's postings about what was going on at the club seemed distant and even surreal to her.

About a half hour after sitting down a middle aged man came and asked if he could join them. He said his name was Mr. Rousseau.

"You are very good at recognizing tradecraft Dr. Sloane," Mr. Rousseau said. "I am actually rather impressed. How did you come to learn about this?"

"I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you," Daria answered in her total deadpan. "I'm still not certain I won't have to do away with Tom. But I don't want to do anything too messy here in Paris. It is such a beautiful city."

Mr. Rousseau chuckled and retorted, "I am sure that the local police are happy about that. Maybe wait until you get home?"

"Ha ha," Tom said. "Let's get serious here. What is going on?"

Mr. Rousseau became serious and said, "I just received a report from Msrs. Comte, Sartre, and Voltaire. Your room had definitely been professionally invaded. So far we have found two microphones, a video bug, and a used condom behind the bed. The hotel needs to be doing better housekeeping."

Daria responded sarcastically, "Now there is something I would certainly make sure was in our luggage, since I'm already pregnant. Maybe they snuck in, went through our luggage, and then used our bed for their own mischief! I'll have to figure out how to state the hotel's need for better housekeeping in my online review. Maybe something like: 'This is a lovely hotel with comfortable furnishings. But check the light fixtures for listening devices and cameras and don't look behind the bed. You may find used personal items.' "

Mr. Rousseau chuckled and responded, "Congratulations Dr. Sloane, I am sure that you two will have brilliant and beautiful children. However, there is another concern that we have. The men are checking the walls right now for anything drilled or embedded in the plaster. They are also checking for fingerprints."

The conversation turned to Tom and Daria's impressions of Paris. After a few minutes Mr. Rousseau's phone buzzed. He looked at it and then said to Tom and Daria, "Let's go back to your room. They are finished."

Mr. Rousseau summoned the waiter, paid the bill, and then the three people got up and left the café. They returned to the hotel and went to Tom and Daria's room. There they met the other men. A strange looking device was sitting on the coffee table in the sitting room. They all sat down.

"What is that?" Tom asked.

Mr. Sartre replied, "It is a jammer. It will prevent the electronic bugs from picking up our conversation. We can use it as long as all of us are in the room. We don't want to block this too long or the people who have bugged you might become suspicious."

"Mr. Sartre," Mr. Rousseau started, "Would you kindly describe to Mr. Sloane and Dr. Sloane what you have found?"

"Certainly," Mr. Sartre said. "In addition to the two listening devices and the camera, we found a fiber optic cable – most likely tied to another camera – in the wall plaster. We believe that a hole has been drilled from an adjacent room to accommodate this. "

The man went on, "These particular devices are of a brand and a type we have seen used by Eastern European intelligence services during Soviet times when they basically handled 'wet work' that the KGB didn't have the funds or time to do. Several of these people are still wandering around Europe doing freelance work for various mafias or Chinese intelligence. The mafias pay better."

"This is all really reassuring," Tom said with a note of sarcasm in his voice. "Have you removed the devices?"

"Not yet," Mr. Sartre answered. Mr. Rousseau got up and left the room.

For the first time Mr. Comte spoke, "We think that these should be left in place. Our concern is that if they know that they have been discovered they will further escalate what they are doing. Note that they followed you in London, but they have bugged your hotel room in Paris. This is definitely an increase in their efforts."

"Hmmm," Tom responded. "What do you suggest?"

"We set up static views for the cameras," Mr. Comte said. "Their angle is narrow and focused on your bed. We think one of the possible agendas here is to make a video recording of you and then threaten to post it on the internet. Even though you are married, having your love life openly displayed would certainly be an embarrassment, no? It might even jeopardize Dr. Sloane's position at the university. That would open you to blackmail."

"You certainly make good points," Daria said. "What about the listening devices?"

Mr. Comte answered, "Since it is your last night in Paris I would suggest the following: check into a different hotel. Take a few things with you and then return here in the morning to collect your belongings and check out. It will appear that you were out all night having a good time. Do not tell anyone what hotel you choose. Before we leave let us check your phones for concealed tracking programs."

Mr. Sartre said, "In the meantime our colleague Mr. Rousseau will speak with the hotel management. Perhaps we can get into the room next door. Even better would be to get images of the people who went in and out of the room. If we can identify who is coming and going, then we will have a much more powerful tool to determine what is going on here. Please call us tomorrow before you leave Paris."

Tom and Daria agreed to Mr. Comte's proposal. The men from Thames thanked them for calling and told them they were doing the right thing. Then they left Daria and Tom alone in the room.

By now this situation was really beginning to make Daria fearful. She had been chewing her nails since finding that someone had been in the room. Daria was now starting to hear voices speak to her in her head. She had to admit the primary voice she heard over the others made solid sense. That primary voice was none other than Melody Powers – the star of Daria's spy novels and to some extent her alter ego. It was time to listen to that voice and act.

"So Tom, this makes 'Jane Cam' look pretty tame," Daria said with a strong note of sarcasm in her voice.

"Don't remind me," Tom replied. "I'd just about forgotten that."

"At least you got fan mail!" Daria commented in total deadpan,

"Yeah, from some inmates," Tom said with a slight note of irritation in us voice. He went on, "Are you saying this would have been a sensation with my hot wife?"

Daria looked at him and deadpanned, "I didn't know you had another wife. I only know of the dull, pregnant one."

"That's the one I mean," Tom said as he put his arms around Daria. "I think you're hot. So any video they would have made of us would have been amazing! Not that anyone would have watched such a thing, of course."

Daria looked up at him and responded, "You are such a liar. But I admit I like the flattery when it comes from you."

Tom leaned over and gave Daria a quick kiss. When their lips parted he stood there with his love in his arms just looking at her face. In the moments following the kiss he saw her expression change from a slight smile to a very hardened look. Tom knew that look. He tried to lighten the mood a bit by saying, "OK. Back to the mission, Melody?"

"Funny," Daria deadpanned. "Nothing like calling me by your other wife's name! Be careful or you might suffer the same fate as one of my targets." Still looking at Tom, but now with hard eyes, she said, "The security of information is proportional to one over the square of the number of people who know it. If you and I both know the information then the security is proportional to ¼. If only I know it, then the security is proportional to 1. If neither of us knows it, then it is infinite."

Tom stepped back and responded saying, "I can't fault your mathematics, but I don't fully understand how neither of us can know the information."

They quickly stuck some things in a pair of nice souvenir bags they had acquired shopping. They left the room and headed to the elevator. They reached the ground floor and walked out onto the street. It would not be considered unusual for two tourists to walk out with the bags they were carrying.

Walking down the sidewalk Tom turned and said, "So enlighten me Melody. What is the plan?"

"Simple really," Daria said in total deadpan. "We first go to the Metro. Then I pick a station. We go to that station and leave the Metro. We walk down the street and find a hotel to our liking, walk in, and ask if they have a room. If so, then we check in. As long as we are not followed, the only possible hole in the plan is if the bad guys have a mole in the police department who is able to check hotel registrations. We have to show our passports to check in, but there is no computerized system to report registrations to the police. If the police want us, then they have to find out which hotel we are in. No one knows – not even us – until we actually check in." Turning to her husband of five years Daria gave him an evil smile. Then she said, "And with the heat off I can use you as my boy toy and do whatever I wish when I am done."

Tom looked at Daria and said, "You know Melody, sometimes you really do scare me. Do you know that?"

Daria smiled and responded, "That is the only way that I know my evil plan is working." With that they entered the Metro subway station, purchased their tickets and headed for the train.

….

Tom and Daria walked out of the St. Denis Metro station. It was already dark as they walked southwest along Boulevard Sebastopol. After a few minutes Daria said, "Go in here. It is a Dutch chain and the room will be fine."

Walking up to the reception desk Daria asked in her best, though limited, French if they had rooms available. The clerk answered in the affirmative and she and Tom checked in. They were given a room on the third floor which had a decent view of the street.

The two took a couple of minutes to settle in and check the street for a tail. They saw none. Daria turned on the TV, placed their phones right next to the TV and then they began discussing their situation.

"Here is how I see it," Daria said. "Tomorrow morning we check out of here and then we go and check out at the other hotel. If we get an early start, say 6:00 am, then we may catch them off guard. When we go into the other room we should act like we have been out all night drinking. We get them to think we passed out on the couch. That should throw them off for about six hours. By then we should be most of the way to Munich. "

Daria continued, "The TGV line ends at Stuttgart. We will not go on to Munich. We will simply eat the cost of the first night guarantee at the hotel. That gives us 24 hours. My hope is that this will cause them to think that our trail has gone cold. In Stuttgart we will take the city train and check into an outlying hotel. The following day we have a decision to make. There are 2 possibilities. The first is that we simply go to the airport and purchase tickets home. We can fly directly from Stuttgart to Atlanta. The second would be to take a bus to Munich and again check into a random hotel."

Tom asked, "OK, Melody. What are the potential holes in this plan?"

Daria counted on her fingers as she responded, "First, there is the possibility that Thames missed a tracking device somewhere. We are fairly sure it is not in our phones, which would be the easiest and most useful place to conceal tracking software. However, if they were able to clone our phones, then we have no way to detect that. Second, there is the possibility that they broke into our other room again and planted a tracking device somewhere in a bag tonight. The problem with this scenario is that Thames is keeping an eye on the place. Third, they have enough resources to focus on us that they can pick us up again when we return to the hotel."

Daria looked at Tom and said in total deadpan, "Now it is time to spill it Sloane. How come you, a boring accountant, have people following him who may be connected with some Eastern European mafia? Who are they and what are they looking to accomplish?"

Tom was quiet for a moment. Then he responded in his most sincere tone, "Melody, I wish I knew. I have been racking my brain to figure this out. The company I was working on in London was B&R Transport. They are based in London and their business is transfer of goods between transportation modes. They do truck to rail and rail to ship and the reverse. Their operation appears legitimate, but of course there is always the possibility that it is some kind of money laundering operation. I have been providing consulting on the U.S. tax structure and customs duties. They are considering expanding into the U.S. If they are dirty I just don't see the point in compromising us. I'm already helping them."

Daria responded, "Getting 'insurance' is as old as the hills. Mobsters in particular have used that as leverage to make certain that once you start helping them you don't stop or report their activities to the authorities. By trying to compromise me they get leverage over both of us."

"Here I thought I was the one that was supposed to take care of my wife. You are now taking care of both of us," Tom said. "Frankly, I am feeling very inadequate here. Should I at least grow a beard or a mustache or something?"

Daria leaned over and hugged her husband. She stated, "We are a team. Right now I have the ball and I am blocking for us. You've been catching and playing support all through this. Now let's get some dinner and then some sleep. Oh, and I'm Daria again. You don't have to feel guilty sleeping with me. Also, Melody seems to have gotten rid of my headache."

"Well that is certainly a relief," Tom replied while trying not to roll his eyes. "Now let's get ready and go get something to eat. I'm starving!"


	6. Chapter 5: Hide and Seek

**Chapter 5: Hide and Seek**

Daria looked out the window of the TGV as they rolled across eastern France at nearly 180 miles per hour (300 kph). This morning Melody had used several techniques to determine if they had a tail as well as some to lose one. Her instincts were telling her that they got out of Paris undetected. Now it was a matter of making it the rest of the way.

Tom had called Thames from the lobby of the hotel where they spent their last night in Paris. Thames reported that no one had attempted to enter the room last night. Also, they had some information on the people who most likely had bugged the room. They were sending it to the police and to Grace, Sloane, and Paige's home office.

As they sped along on the train, Daria – or Melody – had altered the original plan slightly, but would not say anything to Tom until just before it was time to execute the change. When the train made its first stop in Germany she would tell Tom that they were getting off. Then they would take a regional train to another major city and then travel on to a town near Stuttgart. Then they had to make the decision of whether to leave Europe or stay for the duration of their planned vacation. Daria did not want to leave, but she had also not planned to have a Melody Powers style adventure. This was getting to be emotionally wearing. Despite Melody talking to her in her head and guiding her actions, it wasn't quite a Melody Powers adventure – she wasn't armed and hadn't killed anyone.

Daria leaned over and put her head on Tom's shoulder. She whispered, "I have a task for you. I want you to come up with a decision on staying or leaving. Most likely we will have to make that decision tomorrow."

"I can do that," Tom replied. He leaned back and started to construct it in his mind. He knew that he would not be able to put it on paper until they were alone in their next hotel room.

…..

As they approached the first stop in Germany, Daria leaned over to Tom and said, "We are getting off here. Grab the bags and let's go." The TGV pulled into the station at Mannheim just over 3 hours after leaving Paris. It was now mid-day. Tom grabbed their luggage and they headed for the door.

On the platform Daria walked over to the timetable and determined that they had just over an hour until their next train. Then she went over to a ticket machine and went through the menus. She knew she could purchase a day ticket good on the regional and city trains, but had to navigate the menus in German. When she finally got to the correct screen she put cash into the machine and it printed the ticket. She wrote her name on the ticket. Tom could ride on the ticket as well. Indeed up to five people could use the same ticket.

Letting out a big sigh she turned and said to Tom, "Let's go over there to the food vendor and see what they have for lunch. It occurs to me that I am starving. You wouldn't want our baby to go hungry would you?"

Tom looked at Daria and for the first time in two days really smiled at her. "How could I possibly resist buying food for my family?" They walked over, looked at what was being offered in the case and Daria ordered in her broken German. They also bought some bottled water and then went to the platform to consume their lunches.

As they finished she said to Tom, "OK, here is what we will do. We will take this train to Ludwigsburg and change there to the city train. That will get us to the airport. We can check the availability of seats to Atlanta anonymously. Then we can select a hotel."

"An idea came to me," Tom said with some excitement in his voice. "I have an old friend from Bromwell who works for Mercedes. You've met him, Terry Barton. In his Christmas email last year he wrote about his assignment in Germany and asked people to call him if they were in town. I put his number in my phone just in case. If we find a public phone we can call him. He might be able to give us a place to stay tonight and staying with him would keep our passports out of any computer systems!"

"Why Tom," Daria said. "You're starting to think like Melody! Be careful. She might try to steal you from me."

Tom turned and looked Daria right in the eyes and said, "Melody is pretty hot as well as exciting."

Daria pointed her finger at Tom and said in a scolding tone, "Simmer down mister. We have work to do. Once we are at the airport call Terry and tell him our hotel messed up the reservation." Daria continued to scan the people in the station, but thankfully no faces looked familiar and no one seemed to take any interest in them.

The train arrived and Daria and Tom got onboard. The second class seating in the German regional train was a far cry from the cushy first class seats they had on the TGV. The backs were fixed and there was definitely less padding. It was, however, very clean and neat. It was also more crowded. Daria thought that this worked overall to their advantage. Since they had been one of the first people on the train, they had taken a position to watch everyone else who got on their car. So far, nothing raised Daria's suspicions. The doors closed and the train left the station. It continued to amaze Daria just how smoothly the European trains started their journeys.

…..

At the airport Daria noticed she was starting to feel very tired. Everything seemed heavier. This included both her bag and her limbs. The excitement and physical exertion of travel were starting to catch up with her – not to mention her fears about people stalking them. It was a good thing that they could travel light. Tom was on the phone talking to his buddy from Bromwell. Daria actually thought she felt herself doze off briefly. This was definitely a time when she would find it challenging to stay alert.

Tom walked over and said, "Terry will pick us up in about 20 minutes. He asked if we could stay with them through Christmas. Apparently he has all of tomorrow off and he and his wife Maggie would like to spend it with us. He mentioned that Stuttgart has the largest Christmas market in Germany and they would like to take us there tomorrow."

"That sounds good to me," Daria replied. "I notice that I am kind of tired and I don't know that I will be the greatest company tonight."

Tom and Daria walked out to the pickup area outside of the terminal. Terry drove up in a new black S-class Mercedes. He popped open the trunk and Tom put their bags in and closed the lid. Meanwhile, Daria slid into the backseat.

Tom got in the front on the passenger's side and said to Terry, "Hey it is great to see you again! Sorry to call you on such short notice. I really appreciate you helping us out."

Terry responded, "No problem Tom. Daria it's good to see you again, too."

Daria said, "Good to see you. Thanks so much."

Terry drove off and started bringing Tom and Daria up-to-date on his life, "Tom, you remember Maggie the European History major?"

"Who could forget her bright red hair!" Tom replied.

"Well we got married a few months after graduation and we are expecting our first child in March," Terry said.

Tom responded, "Wow. That is a coincidence. Daria and I are expecting our first in July. This is our 'last trip before kids' adventure."

Daria thought to herself, 'Uh oh. What is this going to be like? Another pregnant red-head?' She knew that she would have to suppress judging Maggie based on Quinn. Maybe she would have to also suppress the temptation for Melody to quietly dispose of the body! But that was enough of random thoughts. Hopefully this would turn into a pleasant couple of days.

It was only about a 25 minute trip from the airport to Terry's home near the medieval town of Esslingen. Daria slept most of the way. She awoke when Terry turned off of the highway onto the local streets. He and Maggie were living in a single family home, which surprised Daria. Most Germans lived in apartments and she had assumed that the company would have put them in an apartment. This was actually a pleasant surprise. She was looking forward to a good night's sleep in a quiet place.

Maggie greeted them at the door. Daria could see that she was at least six months into her pregnancy. She introduced herself to Daria as Tom and Terry brought in the bags. She said, "Can you two put those upstairs in the second bedroom? I think that is where Daria and Tom will be most comfortable."

"Sure thing," Terry replied and the two men headed up the stairs with the bags.

Walking to the living room she sat down on the couch and invited Daria to sit with her. "I'm sorry to hear about your hotel," Maggie said. "But truly I'm glad you could come here and spend Christmas with us. Even with Terry working at an international company it seems we do not get many visitors from home. Tom and I knew each other at Bromwell. How did you two meet and wind up getting married?"

Daria responded, "Tom and I actually first dated while we were still in high school. Then we went our separate ways the summer before college started. He went to Bromwell and I went to Raft in Boston. What I didn't know or at least didn't recognize was that he had fallen in love with me and had an evil plan to chase me down and get me to marry him. We got back together in the summer of our junior years and then both moved to New York after graduation. I worked for a year and then decided to get a doctorate at Columbia in comparative literature. He proposed just before I started and we got married after my first year in the program. After I got my degree we moved back to Lawndale. I am an assistant professor of English at Lawndale State University and he is an associate vice president at Grace, Sloane and Paige." Finishing her own story Daria asked, "How did you two meet and wind up here in Germany?"

"We met at Bromwell. Terry has always been a real go-getter. He was an athlete in college and worked hard on his studies. He worked equally hard on me. I am much more relaxed than he is. I like to look at things and contemplate the history and philosophy associated with places. I guess that is why I was a history major! Anyway, he was pretty smitten with me freshman year, but I wouldn't go out with anyone until my sophomore year. I wanted to get to know people before being linked up with anyone. We started dating late fall of that year and we just clicked. I won't say it was love at first sight, but it was definitely love. We were inseparable. After graduation we got married and he took the job with Mercedes. He worked hard and earned his master's in business in just three years. Then he took a management position. Now we are here in Germany for a three year rotation that will prepare him for upper management positions."

"Wow," Daria said. "What do you do?"

"Back home I started working in Student Affairs at the local state university. Once I knew that I was going to be coming here I started researching this part of Germany. My goal is to complete the research for a book on the Stuttgart area that I will publish when I return to the U.S. There just is not a lot of material available in English on the history of this area. Yet it is the industrial heart of Germany," Maggie said with great excitement. "I've learned to speak decent German and my reading allows me to really delve into things. I've gotten to know the city historians in the area. Plus, it is something that I can work on at my own pace. There are days in this pregnancy when I don't want to get out of bed."

Daria looked at her and said, "Tell me about it. I'm not even through the first trimester and there are days when the thought of getting up is repugnant to me. All I want is a bell and Tom to wait on me." The two women laughed.

Tom and Terry came into the living room. Each brought his wife a beer. Terry commented, "Here in Germany this is seen as good for you. While you don't want to overdo it, nevertheless beer and wine are seen as food. Americans are just too sensitive about all forms of alcohol! "

Maggie looked at Daria and said, "I don't know about you, but I am certainly not going to turn down my daily ration!"

Daria quipped, "Far be it from me to turn down perfectly healthy beer!" Everyone laughed.

The rest of the evening passed with light conversation and a good dinner.

At last Daria and Tom were lying in bed and Daria leaned over in the quiet and the darkness and whispered in Tom's ear, "Well this has been a wonderful evening. It has been easy to forget our troubles."

"It certainly has my love," Tom replied. "Let's get a good night's sleep and hopefully tomorrow will be even better than today." Tom gave Daria a kiss and they both fell right to sleep.


	7. Chapter 6: Glowing Wine

**Chapter 6: Glowing Wine**

Tom and Terry were up before Daria and Maggie. The two men were sitting in the solarium or 'winter garden' on the back of the house and drinking orange juice. Tom had looked at the thermometer and it read -10oC (14oF). They were discussing the day's plans. They would walk about a half mile (0.8 km) to the nearby stop of the city train and take it into the center of Stuttgart. The agenda was to visit the largest Christmas market in Germany on Christmas Eve. There they would find everything from ornaments and cutlery to food and an aromatic mulled wine – literally 'glow wine' – a particular German holiday specialty. There was also the opportunity to do some shopping in the local department stores, which was a favorite activity for Maggie. The biggest issue would be sitting down. The Christmas market had little seating. It would be necessary to go to a pub or restaurant to get off of their feet. So, Terry had things planned out such that Maggie would be able to enjoy the outing.

Tom was concerned about the possibility of being discovered by whoever was stalking them. Naturally he said nothing about that to Terry. Serendipity could work against them, unless they had a plan. Turning to Terry he said, "You know Terry, I only have one concern about our plans. We are going to be outdoors for a considerable amount of time. Daria and I really didn't pack for being outside that much. Would you by any chance have a couple of spare coats and hats we could borrow just for today? Otherwise, we might want to stop and buy a couple warmer coats at a department store."

"That won't be any problem at all," Terry replied. "Fact is that I have purchased a couple for myself and probably three for Maggie since we arrived. I think we can fix you and Daria up with coats, hats, scarves, and gloves to make certain that you don't freeze out there! One thing you find out about Germans is that they dress more warmly at any temperature than Americans. They like to stay nice and toasty!"

Maggie and Daria walked in holding glasses of different juices. Maggie had current juice and Daria had apple. Maggie said, "Alright you two, I have put out a good German breakfast for Christmas Eve. I'm sure you two have everything planned out for our day. The least you can do is come eat and not let your pregnant wives faint from starvation waiting for you."

Tom and Terry followed the women into the breakfast room. Maggie had put a variety of breads, butter, jams, ham, and sausages out on the table. They sat down, Maggie poured coffee and they started eating. All in all the German breakfast was quite filling.

Getting dressed to go to the Christmas market was an adventure in and of itself. Maggie raided the coat closet to first find something to fit Daria. That wasn't too hard, since there was a medium brown coat she had already 'outgrown' due to her pregnancy. Then she found a knit hat that was large enough that all of Daria's hair would fit underneath it. Finally, she found a pair of wool gloves and a scarf for Daria to put around her neck. She explained that one of the key things that Germans wore in the wintertime was a scarf. They really wanted to be certain that no cold air went down their necks. Maggie advised Daria to wear her black jeans and black walking shoes along with a sweater. Her orange cashmere was a good choice.

Terry took over getting Tom outfitted for the excursion. Terry's early Christmas gift to himself was an Austrian 'Loden' (boiled wool) coat. So, he gave Tom his older dark blue coat to wear. It was more casual than the boiled wool coat. The quilted interior was warm. He came up with a stocking cap, gloves, and a scarf to keep Tom warm. Tom also put on a sweater, black pants, and black walking shoes.

Maggie selected a coat, hat, scarf, and gloves similar to Daria's. The biggest difference was that the coat was larger to cover her pregnancy.

The four friends headed out to the city train stop. The weather was definitely cold and there was a light wind blowing. Daria was glad to be dressed so warmly. The wind would have chilled her if she were outdoors for any length of time in the coat she brought with her for the trip. She was just getting used to walking on cobblestones. While there wasn't much difference walking on an asphalt sidewalk than a concrete one, the streets were a different matter. Not all streets were cobblestone, but she really had to watch her footing when she crossed one or walked on it. One thing really pleased her. It was the fact that she and Tom were dressed as Germans. Looking around at other people on the street and those approaching the platform she noticed that they did not stand out at all in the crowd. She expected to be on the alert all day in case they were discovered and picked up a tail. However, their preparations not to freeze to death at the Christmas market also made excellent camouflage. The only gap in their camouflage was that they would be speaking English to each other, but that was unavoidable.

Terry purchased a day ticket for the group from the machine by the train platform. He commented, "One of the great things being here in Europe is the rail system. If you know how the ticketing system works you can really travel cheaply. It is like with this ticket. We can all travel together for only the equivalent of a few dollars each for the entire day. While I wish we could have a system like this at home, I am not sure I want to pay three times as much for gasoline in order to subsidize it!"

The S1 train arrived and they got on board. Thirty minutes later they were standing at the entrance to the area cordoned off for the Christmas market.

As far as they could see there were small wooden buildings, some with elaborately decorated roofs. Each one had something unique to offer ranging from various forms of alcohol to craft items from India. The four Americans strolled through the market checking the items at almost every vendor.

Maggie was giving a history of the market as they went along. She was also describing the cultural significance of some of the vendors' items. It was nice to know that the market had been an annual tradition for over 300 years. But, Daria was not totally focused on Maggie's lecture. She was a bit uneasy about being out in the open. She did believe that whoever had been following them would have been unable to track them after they got off of the TGV. Changing transportation and staying with otherwise unknown people should have thrown them off of the trail. The only concern Daria had was that a random encounter might result in their trail being picked up. As a result she was constantly shifting her eyes around to see who might be watching in the crowd. She was careful not to turn her head too much. That would be an indication to anyone following that she was alert and might have picked them up. Still, she was trying to constantly determine if they were being followed. At some point she wanted to talk to Tom alone to find out what he was thinking.

Even though the temperature was at least ten degrees higher here than back at the house the air was still cold and Daria was glad that they had the warm coats. As she looked around at the other people she noted again that they were pretty much indistinguishable from the locals. After an hour or so the only person she had spotted multiple times was a middle aged blond man who was at most average height. She burned his face into her mind so that she could keep track of him, particularly when it came time to go back to Maggie and Terry's.

Tom came up behind her and asked, "Hot wine my dear?" Daria nearly jumped out of her skin. She let out a little squeak.

Terry turned to her and asked, "Are you OK Daria?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just looking at the knitted items over there at that stall and wondering what they might have. I was kind of lost in thought and Tom just startled me. I guess that getting lost in thought is just a professional hazard for a professor," Daria said with a feigned chuckle. She hoped that would be enough. She didn't want Terry and Maggie to start becoming suspicious that something wasn't quite right with their guests. Tom was clearly the better actor. "Oh, and I would like some wine."

….

Daria, Tom, Maggie, and Terry stood around a standing table and sipped their hot mulled wine. The clove in particular really helped warm Daria. It relaxed her a little as well and she freely joined in the conversation. She had been listening to Maggie's history lesson from earlier and asked a few questions about the market and the city. All in all it was quite pleasant.

Daria spotted the blonde man walk past their table and then go and order a wine for himself. She saw him pay and receive his drink. He went to another standing table well away from them and then positioned himself such that he could see them as well as the street. Turning to Tom she said, "Dear would you come with me to check out those knits. I would really appreciate it." Turning to Terry and Maggie she continued, "I hope you don't mind. We will just be gone a second. Our wine won't even get cold."

Grabbing Tom by the hand she pulled him over to the stall with all of the knits. It was conveniently out of earshot of anyone by the wine stall. "When we walk back look at the blonde man three tables over from us. I have seen him several times since we got here and I cannot tell if he is following us. Now I'm going to pick out something and you will buy it for me so that things don't look suspicious." Daria picked out a wool scarf and Tom paid for it in cash. Then they walked back to the table. Tom noted the blonde man drinking his wine nearby.

As they returned to the table Daria remarked, "Sorry. I just had to have that scarf. I am usually not one for impulse buying. But, this time it was like the scarf was calling me! I just had to buy it. Please don't think I am insane!"

Maggie laughed and exclaimed, "Every woman is allowed to fall in love with a clothing item. It happens to me all the time. Just ask Terry! He will vouch for me. I am a shopping addict. That is why I love every special market they have in this country. And they have many of them! Besides, pregnancy gives me a whole new reason to buy a new wardrobe!"

'What is it about redheads and shopping?' Daria thought to herself. Out loud she quipped, "That is what my sister has said as well about her pregnancy."

"She has her markets and I have my beer festivals," Terry replied. "I consider it about even." Terry leaned over and gave Maggie a kiss. She smiled and looked lovingly back at him. Clearly they had run into another happy couple, though this one probably did not have someone associated with a murky eastern European Mafia following them.

Daria was still keeping an eye on the blonde man a few tables away. She noticed that she could use the side of her wine glass as a mirror, at least to see if he was still there. At one point he pulled out a cell phone and made a call. She would love to have known the content. Daria strained to hear what was being said. The most she could make out was that she suspected that the language was German.

Now Daria needed to think. There was always the possibility that this guy was calling in reinforcements. Since their movements had been mostly random it would probably take a few minutes for those reinforcements to arrive. Looking at the others at her table she noticed that they had all finished their wine. Hers was almost gone and already cold. She drank the last bit.

"How about we do a little more looking and then think about some lunch?" Daria remarked.

"That sounds good," Terry replied. "Let me take these glasses back to the stall and retrieve the deposit."

Daria said, "Why not let Tom do that? I had a couple of quick questions for you." Then she moved aside ostensibly to let Tom reach her glass, but it was really to get a straight line of sight on the blonde man.

"Sure," Tom said as he collected up the glasses. "I'll be right back."

As he walked off Daria asked Terry, "So what do they have you do during this extended training at Mercedes' home office? I have to say that as an English professor I am really curious about how you communicate with your coworkers and with the rest of the organization." She tried to both look at Terry as she asked the question and at the blonde man. Were his eyes following Tom? It was so hard to tell.

Terry happily answered Daria's question. He described how he attended meetings which were most often in English, but sometimes in German. He had spent a year learning some German before coming over. He could follow what was being said in German, because so much of it was terminology relating to the product.

"What about written communications?" Daria asked.

"Those are almost entirely in English," Terry responded. "On the rare occasions that I have to write to someone who does not speak English I use a translation program. Then I have a German colleague proof the text for me. If I receive something in German I just use the program to translate it into English."

"That is really interesting," Daria commented. "I find it interesting how machine translation is able to come up with some fairly competent text." The blonde man did not seem to be watching Tom. Then again, Daria was still at the table and Tom clearly would be returning. The man could always follow her if Tom did not return.

Tom came back to the table and the four left to see more of the market. Daria was clearly not letting her guard down. By now Melody was guiding her actions. She spotted a stall with various mirrors hanging. She walked over and examined several. Specifically she was looking for their possible tail. She spotted him about six stalls away. He was facing away from them and talking to someone. Daria pressed into her mind some key features of the other man's face. She needed to figure out a way to put to rest the possibility they were being followed. Leaning up to Tom she whispered, "We need to split up briefly and then reconnect. The blonde man is talking to a man in a dark green hat. I will try to take Maggie and go somewhere. You go with Terry. We will meet at the fountain by the skating rink in thirty minutes. Use the excuse of looking for a Christmas present for me. Here, I grabbed an extra map of the market."

Tom took the map and put it in his pocket. "At your service Melody," He whispered back.

Terry was looking at some hand carved ornaments at the next stall. Tom walked up to him and suggested that they get away from the women and look for Christmas gifts. Daria did likewise with Maggie. The two agreed and they went their separate ways.

'OK,' Daria thought to herself – in Melody Power's voice. Now I have two tasks. First, I have to put myself in positions to watch for a tail. Second, I need to be convincing to Maggie that I am looking for something to buy for Tom. Maybe I will ask her for suggestions. "What do you think would make a good souvenir for Tom from the market?"

Maggie looked at Daria and replied, "There are lots of possibilities. A handcrafted Christmas ornament from the Holy Land or some other Christmas decoration is always a possibility. They are small and since many are made of wood they will travel well in your luggage. If you have the space you can always go for commemorative glassware. You can get a set of glasses like we had for the mulled wine. There are also several clothing items you could get. If you like they also sell bottles of egg liqueur, which is sort of like eggnog with a serious kick!"

Turning to face Maggie – and to look behind her – Daria responded, "With so many things I think we will just need to wander a bit until something strikes me." She looked past her companion and scanned behind her. The man in the green hat was still visible about five stalls away. Daria would take a turn at the next corner and see if he followed. The two women picked their way through the stalls as they continued down the street. Now and then they would pause at a stall.

Daria checked her watch. About twenty five minutes had gone by. She and Maggie had made three turns and she no longer saw the man in the green hat either behind her or in front. There was no way that Daria could possibly relax. She was tense. This business was starting to really get on her nerves. A knot was forming in her stomach. She clearly felt fear. She feared not so much for herself but for Tom. He was the only man in the world that had ever been interested in her – not to mention in love with her. Deep down the truth was that even before they had started dating again back in college she had known that living without him would not be a happy state of existence for her. She could not lose him. Daria knew that she needed to draw on Melody Powers to get through this. She could hear Melody talking to her in her head just as her other characters often did. As long as Daria had breath she would defend Tom to the death. To paraphrase one of her own stories, she would 'be happy to fill a few mafia cemeteries' to protect Tom and her baby.

Melody was telling Daria that she could not let fear paralyze her. She should use that fear to help her act better and faster. It was time to make this foray look good. She had to do some buying! Daria bought a nutcracker for Tom. She chose one that looked like a pirate rather than the traditional soldier motif from a stand that must have had 200 nutcrackers displayed. She also bought some traditional springerle cookies from another stand specializing in cookies. She even found something for Maggie. Tomorrow was Christmas after all.

After making her purchases Daria looked at her watch and remarked, "We probably need to head to the skating rink and meet up with the guys."

"Sure," Maggie said. "Just let me stop and pick up some burnt almonds and a couple of other nuts from this stand over here."

"No problem," Daria said matter-of-factly. "I'll just stand here and wait for you." Daria was standing by a streetlight pole in a position that gave her a wide view of the street and the crowd. She scanned in all directions, but there was no sign of the man in the green hat. There had not been anyone else in the crowd that had raised her suspicions about a tail. For the last ten minutes the thought had been nagging at her that she might just be paranoid. Then again, just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't all out to get you! Paranoia kept Melody alive.

Daria spotted a nearby booth where they were selling kitchen knives. As Maggie was choosing nuts Daria walked up and quickly looked over the wares. She selected a paring knife made of Solingen steel. It had an 8.5 cm (3.3 in.) long blade and overall length of 18 cm (7 in.). Being the only one at the booth she was able to quickly pay cash and took her purchase. Turning away from the booth she placed the knife in her coat sleeve where she could easily draw it if necessary. The cardboard covering was loose enough it would either stay in her sleeve or fall off if she needed to draw the knife.

Maggie finished buying her nuts and put them in a bag she had been carrying in her purse. Walking over to Daria she said, "That is one of the things I have a tough time getting used to here in Germany. They don't always give you a bag for your purchases. You got one with your nutcracker because it was a 'high value' purchase. Then you had it for your springerle. They don't do the same for small stuff like nuts. They are wrapped in a paper cone. So, I always carry a plastic shopping bag in my purse."

The two women continued to pick their way through the stalls, but now were heading toward the rendezvous point. It was past noon and the crowd was getting very thick. Daria and Maggie worked their way across the street and walked around the ice rink on the eastern side. That gave Daria a direct line of sight to the fountain. Even through the crowd she could see Tom and Terry standing nearby. The next thing she saw sent chills down her spine. Both the blonde man and the man with the green hat were approaching their husbands from behind. Fear welled up in Daria's throat and she had to suppress the urge to run to Tom with knife drawn, assuming you could even run in this crowded area. She had to move deliberately, but still stealthily to his position to give him backup if he needed it.

There was no way that at five foot three she would be able to engage in a fight with one or both of those men – even armed with a knife. However, she knew enough from her self-defense classes that if need be she could inflict enough damage – given the element of surprise – to allow the four of them to run away.

"There they are just waiting for us," Daria said to Maggie. "Come on."

"I'm coming," Maggie said. "Unfortunately, my feet are really tired. I'm a little slow. The baby makes a great personal heater and defense against the cold, but carrying all the extra weight really gets to you! I think we are going to need to head home or at least find someplace indoors to sit down and have something to eat!"

Daria didn't know how to hurry Maggie along. She couldn't just leave her and rush to Tom herself. Rushing through the milling crowd was impossible. Also, that would be suspicious as well as rude. The two men were getting closer to her husband and Terry. Daria felt fear rising to a crescendo inside of her. As much as she wanted to rush in and protect her husband this was the time to control herself and be very observant. The goal here was to approach the men from behind unseen. Melody Powers was assessing the situation and acting accordingly.

Daria kept Maggie moving and hugged the line of stalls. The crowd had clearly grown and it was harder to keep her eyes on Tom. Once she lost sight of him and that caused a momentary wave of panic. When she and Maggie came to a position directly in line and behind the strange men she could see them talking to Terry. Daria hoped she would not be too late.

Walking up behind the men she could now make out what they were saying to Terry in heavily accented English, "I am not certain about the new interior colors. Will they be a hit in America? Maybe. That is what the people in marketing say. I don't see them doing well here in Germany. We tend to go for simple black, white, gray, or maybe brown. "

Terry spied the two women and called out, "Maggie, Daria, we are over here!"

Daria and Maggie walked up to the men. Daria was still on edge. She placed her hand on the handle of the knife in her coat sleeve.

"Maggie, Daria, these are two of my co-workers from Mercedes. This is Hans Hueber and this is Franz Dietrich."

The two men turned toward Daria and Maggie. Hans was the blonde man. He extended his hand to Daria. Franz – the man wearing the green hat – extended his hand to Maggie. Both women wound up shaking hands with both of the men. Daria relaxed a little bit, but was still not letting her guard down. Fortunately, Maggie was the first one to break in. She said, "It is nice meeting you. Turning to Terry she said with a bit of a whine in her voice, "Terry I really need to rest. We either need to find a restaurant where I can sit or go home. I would probably prefer the latter."

Daria chimed in saying, "The subway station is right over there. We can take it to the main station and catch the city train back to your place."

Terry responded to Maggie, "OK. We'll go to the subway." Turning to Hans and Franz he said, "Guys it was good seeing you. Enjoy the afternoon at the market."

"I will be back at work on Monday," Franz replied. "I just hope that our girlfriends finish their shopping before we freeze to death! Have a Merry Christmas!" With that the two men walked away.

"Merry Christmas to you as well," the four friends said almost in unison.

As they got well out of earshot Terry turned to Tom and said, "I have to tell you it really cracks me up that these guys are Hans and Franz. It is like something out of a comedy sketch! They are good workers in interior design, but I have been told that they have known each other since they were little kids. Apparently when they speak to each other or have a conversation at work they speak in the thick dialect of their home village. The Germans working there from outside of this region can barely understand them! I don't even try. They speak good English so I just use that with them. Truthfully, some of the Germans do as well!"

Tom chuckled. "That is a problem we don't have back home. I have some employees who are grammatically challenged, but I can still understand them."

Daria was listening, but also keeping an eye on their surroundings. Many more people were coming out of the subway station than going in. She just hoped that they would be able to get back to their friends' house without being recognized. At least this last pair had turned out to be Terry's co-workers. That still did not mean that they were completely free of the people who had followed them in London.

On the ride home Maggie could hardly keep her eyes open. "I'm sorry that I'm dozing off. It certainly isn't the company! It's just that I tire so easily now. I really apologize. I don't want to be a downer on the day." With that she leaned back and dozed off. The four rode the rest of the way without saying anything as Maggie slept.

It was early afternoon when the four friends returned to the house. They had a light snack and then Maggie went upstairs to lie down for a while. Later, while sitting in the living room Tom commented, "See what you have to look forward to Daria? You'll be able to have that elusive afternoon nap!"

Daria looked at Tom and gave him one of her colder looks and said in a deadpan voice dripping with sarcasm, "Why yes dear. I am really looking forward to carrying forty or fifty pounds of extra weight that is its own heater. Not to mention the joys of swollen ankles and internal organs used as a punching bag. Of course, we can always debate the beauty of stretch marks and the attractive long term results such as 'sneeze 'n pees'! Oh yes, I can't wait. God, you can be insensitive sometimes."

Tom blushed at the dressing down his wife gave him. Terry on the other hand had to work hard to contain himself and not just start laughing out loud. More than once he too had 'stepped in it' with his pregnant wife. If anything Daria's sarcastic response was entertaining while Maggie's would have been really acid and maybe even involved threats to have him neutered. After all, Maggie would reason, neutered pets make better pets. He would remind her that that would result in serious consequences to their favorite sport. Then he would sleep on the sofa for a couple of nights.

"My apologies, Terry," Daria said. Looking at Tom she went on, "But sometimes my dear husband engages his mouth before his brain."

Terry replied, "That's OK, Daria. Maggie wouldn't have been as nice. I love her, but she can have quite a temper. I think it goes with the red hair!"

"I can vouch for that," Daria said in total deadpan. "I have a sister with bright red hair. She has quite the temper as well. I think they just produce too much Vitamin D. We probably need to shut them in dark rooms more often!"

Terry and Tom laughed. Daria's moment of pique seemed to have passed. Daria was looking forward to Maggie getting up from her nap. She still had questions about this region of Germany, especially what happened in the time from near the end of World War II and the early Cold War period. With all that said she did lean back on the sofa and had to close her eyes. She immediately fell asleep.

Seeing that Daria had drifted off, Tom and Terry picked up their drinks and went into the winter garden. The sun was shining in and it was pleasantly warm. After reminiscing about college for an hour or so Tom asked, "Can Daria and I invite you and Maggie to dinner tonight? We really appreciate your hospitality on such short notice."

"Thank you Tom," Terry replied. "We'll take you up on that offer. There is a great little place within a reasonable walk. They even brew their own beer on-site!"

Tom responded, "That sounds great. Now we just need our wives to wake up." The two continued talking as the sun slowly began its descent below the horizon.


	8. Chapter 7: Merry Crisis

**Chapter 7: Merry Crisis**

The restaurant was really nice. The décor was classic Bavarian country style – even though they were not in Bavaria. There were various scenes painted on the wall and the beer was excellent! Daria and Maggie both had the non-alcoholic brew that they made on site while Tom and Terry enjoyed a traditional lager in one liter mugs.

Terry commented, "We may not be in Bavaria, but that doesn't mean we can't eat and drink in Bavarian style! I'm sure someone from Munich would vehemently disagree with me, but I think these people brew as good a beer as you will find there. Prosit!" Then Terry took a long drink from his mug.

The meals were as good as the beer. Daria had the pork roast with rich gravy, potato dumplings the size of baseballs, and a salad. Tom had the turkey cutlet smothered in mushrooms with roasted potatoes and green beans. Terry went for the schnitzel with french fries and salad. Maggie went for a dish from the region they lived in that was a fried mixture of spaetzle noodles, sauerkraut, ground beef and even a little bacon.

After dinner the four sat and contemplated if they wanted some apple strudel for dessert. Tom and Terry ordered coffee. Maggie excused herself to go to the restroom. Shortly thereafter Terry did the same.

Sitting there by Daria at the table Tom reached out and took her hand and squeezed it. She looked at him and smiled. This was the first real smile he had seen today. Both had clearly relaxed.

A man walked up to their table leaned over and said with a thick Bosnian accent, "We are watching you. If we see Thames again it will be all the harder on you." Then he walked off and out of the restaurant.

Maggie was the first to return to the table. She remarked, "Hey, what's up you two? You both look like you've seen a ghost." Terry returned moments later.

"Didn't see a ghost," Tom said. "It's just that while you were away from the table I received a text from my father. My sister is in trouble again. She has struggled with addiction for years and unfortunately was arrested for possession just yesterday. She spent the night in jail and my dad paid her bail this morning. My dad is not certain that even our lawyers can keep her out of prison this time. They are going to offer a guilty plea in return for a sentence to residential rehab. But, since this won't be her first conviction or stint in rehab it may not be enough. We will just have to see." Tom felt bad about lying to their friends, but it was necessary.

Terry was the first to speak after a few moments of silence. "Maggie has an older brother with problems in that area as well. His has been mostly out of a bottle. A couple of times he wound up homeless for not paying his rent. It has been difficult for us being here in Europe and unable to help out with him. It's a burden for her parents."

As the men finished their coffees Maggie said, "Well, this has been a great dinner and a great visit. But we probably ought to be getting back to our place. We have been told that midnight mass around here is something we don't want to miss. It is a highlight of the year. Since that is only a few hours away I would like to go back and rest a bit, as well as get changed."

Terry popped up with, "No one does Christmas like the Germans! It is a national talent as well as an obsession."

The four friends got up and walked back to Terry and Maggie's house. Daria was listening and watching for a tail. There was nothing she could see or hear. Was the man in the restaurant actually following them or was his statement meant to just rattle them? Either way, it was disturbing. Melody was back in control. She thought that most likely they had come up with some way to electronically monitor her and Tom. This would make their getaway more difficult, but not impossible.

Back at the house the two couples had a couple of drinks and chatted. Maggie and Daria both laid down for a couple of hours while Terry and Tom reminisced some more about Bromwell. The four friends went to mass together and it was as spectacular as Maggie had been told. Daria found that between going to hear Father O'Neill's homilies and her meager German she was able to follow what was going on. Later, while walking home, snow even started to drift down.

It was the wee hours of the morning when they said "goodnight" and "Merry Christmas." When Daria and Tom were back in their bedroom, Daria held her finger to her lips to indicate that Tom should keep quiet. She motioned to him to put the suitcases on the bed. She carefully removed each item, inspected it and then went over the entire bag. She removed the linings as well. In Tom's she discovered what looked like a small hearing aid battery. It was in fact a miniature GPS device which could transmit over wifi or cellular networks. How Thames had missed it was unknown at this point. Melody would consider that later. She carefully placed the device in a pocket of the suitcase where she could easily retrieve it later. Next she had to develop a plan.

Tom stayed silent as Daria worked. He knew for certain that he would never make any disparaging remarks about Melody Powers! He had seen parts of Daria's personality today that he had never seen before. If the concept of "edgy" included some mysterious aspect of danger, then he had an "edgy" wife! Every time he discovered something new about his wife it just made him love her even more.

Daria and Tom silently repacked their bags. They laid out their clothes for the morning and the following day. They packed the rest except their night clothes. Turning off the light made the room very dark save a night light on a power strip on the desk in the room. They had closed the exterior roll shutters – something found in most German homes to ensure privacy and keep out light and sound that might disturb sleep. It was also a security measure, though the country had some of the lowest crime rates in the world.

In the darkness Tom found his wife and embraced her. The warmth of her body was exciting. He could feel every inch of her touch him. She even wiggled a little to heighten the sensation. He responded to her movement. His mouth found hers and they kissed deeply. He felt her tiny breasts press against him and he ran his right hand along the contour of her waist and hips. He enjoyed gently caressing her as she held tightly to him. Daria took Tom's hand and led him under the large featherbed that enveloped the bed.

Daria awoke to the nearly utter darkness. There was a digital clock on Tom's side of the bed. She sat up and looked over at it. It was 4:00 am. Tom stirred as she sat there. "Are you awake?" Daria asked in a whisper.

"Yes," Tom whispered back. He rolled over to face her.

Under the covers she took Tom's hand and pulled it to herself. She opened up his palm and gently caressed it. Then she began to trace letters on his palm: U-S-A T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W. He took her palm and traced back: Y-E-S P-L-A-N-? She traced: Y-E-S. Then out loud Daria said, "Mmm that feels so good, baby. But we need to get some more sleep if we are going to have a nice Christmas with our friends and then go to Munich tomorrow."

Tom responded, "If you say so my love." Then they both fell back asleep.


	9. Chapter 8: The Two Days of Christmas

**Chapter 8: The Two Days of Christmas**

Tom was the first to awaken on Christmas morning. In the dim light he could see that Daria was still sound asleep. He resisted the urge to lean over and kiss her. He loved her so much. He knew that the stress of being followed by some criminal organization was really getting to her. Yesterday he was never quite sure if he was talking to Daria or Melody Powers. So far the people following them had not made any moves against them, other than trying to record them by bugging their room in Paris. Tom was fairly certain that the encounter in the restaurant last night was just an overt attempt at intimidation. If they were bugging the room here in Terry and Maggie's house, then it was a more professional job than in Paris.

Swinging his feet out of the bed and stepping on the tile floor Tom made every effort to make no noise at all. One thing about these German houses, he said to himself, the way they are built from stone and concrete blocks there is no problem with the floors squeaking! He grabbed his clothes and quietly made his way to the bathroom, where he shaved, showered, and got dressed. After getting dressed he went downstairs and poured himself a glass of orange juice. He had to turn on lights, since Terry had closed the rolling metal shades on the exterior of the windows for the night. Tom went and sat in the solarium – or winter garden as the Germans called it – which didn't have rolling shades. Looking out into the small yard he noticed that it had snowed overnight. There were probably 3 inches (7.6 cm) of new snow on the ground. It all made for whatever was the German equivalent of a Currier and Ives picture, even though the cloudy sky was the color of lead.

Tom pulled a throw over his legs as he sat there sipping his juice. It was a little cool in the winter garden. His mind started to wander over the events since London. His greatest concern was his wife. This trip was meant to be relaxing with just a little business thrown in. Now it had become something from one of her spy novels. At this point Tom was not as concerned about their physical safety as he was Daria's sanity. As a creative person and a writer Daria's characters 'talked' to her. Tom had known that for years. It was part of the creative process in her mind. He didn't understand it, but he accepted it. What was concerning him was the way that under stress Melody Powers seemed to actually take over and Daria was relegated to the background. The last thing Tom wanted was their last pre-family trip to result in his wife having multiple personality disorder! Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. If necessary he would get Daria to see the psychiatrist that had been seeing both his mother and sister for years. So far in Tom's book the guy had a 50% success rate, but knew how to keep his mouth shut when it came to his patients. The last thing Tom wanted to see was his wife go through the hell of a mental illness. Daria had come so far in the past ten years. She was still sarcastic and a bit misanthropic, but she was so much better socially. Meeting and mingling with new people was not her favorite thing, but it was so much easier for her than it had been back in high school. Maybe it was just maturity. Maybe it was the effect of college, graduate school, and work. Teaching had certainly helped. She had found her talent in the classroom during the teachers' strike back in high school – probably the only thing that Ms. Li ever did that benefitted Daria. Whatever it was, Daria was certainly functional in social situations. Still, Tom worried deeply that this could all be derailed by the experiences on this trip. In the cool and quiet of the winter garden Tom silently prayed for his wife with a single tear running down his cheek.

Tom was startled out of his reverie by the sound of the metal roll shades opening. Either Maggie or Terry had come down to the living room. Tom turned to see Terry standing there in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Merry Christmas Tom!" Terry exclaimed. "It is 10:00 in case you were wondering. I thought I would whip up some Christmas morning brunch for us. It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Do you want to give Daria some fair warning? Maggie is already up and getting dressed. I thought after brunch we could open presents. Maggie and I managed to pick a couple things up for you at the Christmas market without you seeing. I guess we would have made good spies!" Terry laughed at his own comment.

Tom chuckled politely. 'If only he knew,' Tom thought. He got up and shuffled up the stairs to wake Daria. Entering the bedroom he saw his wife only as a large lump under the featherbed. He walked up to her side of the bed, leaned over, and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Her back was facing him, so he had to brace himself with his arms in order to kiss her.

"Hmmm," she said.

"Am I talking to Daria or Melody this morning?" Tom asked just above a whisper.

Daria rolled onto her back and looked up at him. Then she answered, "Its Daria. If it was Melody you would either have a fist or a heel firmly planted in your groin at this point."

Tom let out a little nervous laugh at that thought. "Well," he said. "Terry is making brunch and it will be ready in about 30 minutes. You should probably get up and put some clothes on. At the very least I would suggest one of the bathrobes in the wardrobe over there. Also, bring down the presents we got for them at the Christmas market yesterday. We will open presents after brunch."

"OK," Daria replied. "Go back downstairs and help Terry. I'll be along in a few minutes."

Tom headed back downstairs and helped Terry. Terry had a German radio station on that was playing Christmas music. Together they put out a very American style brunch. It was so nice to sit around and talk and then exchange gifts. The day really made Daria happy and even somewhat relaxed. In the afternoon they took a long walk through the town. It looked like a postcard in the snow.

Daria thought about how this was truly a holiday. There was nothing open. There would be very little open on the day after Christmas as well. In Germany it was also a holiday. Christmas Day was the holiday spent at home with immediate family. The 'Second Day of Christmas' was the day when people generally went out and celebrated with extended family or friends. There would be plenty of people moving on the transportation systems tomorrow. That would work to their advantage.

When the four friends returned from the walk Maggie asked Daria to help her prepare Christmas Dinner. Maggie noted that she didn't have the energy to make something like a traditional Christmas goose this year. But, she had a really nice roast and they would make Sauerbraten with thick sour gravy, spaetzle, and red cabbage. For desert she had purchased slices of chocolate cream torte. In addition, they had a regional wine to go with the meal and limoncello, a lemon liqueur they had purchased on a weekend trip to Italy, as an after dinner drink. Of course, there would also be bread and cheese. It wasn't quite a traditional German Christmas dinner, but it was mostly German and most importantly it was easy to make!

Daria really enjoyed working in the kitchen with Maggie. It got her mind off of their other troubles and she even learned how quick and easy it was to make the spaetzle. She was even smiling when they all sat down at the table. What was even better was that both the food and conversation were good./p  
p class="MsoNormal"After they had feasted and the dishes were in the dishwasher, Daria was sitting in the living room sipping her limoncello. She looked at the clock and noticed that it had reached 9:00. In an apologetic voice she said, "I hate to be a party pooper, but I'm afraid we are going to have to go to bed soon. We have a fairly early train to catch tomorrow and Tom and I need our sleep. It will be a big travel day heading for Munich. I for one am excited about seeing a new city, but I have to say that I hate the idea of leaving here. You two have been such wonderful hosts on such short notice. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your hospitality."

Maggie responded, "Daria, it has been wonderful having you and Tom here. We were prepared to spend Christmas all alone, but then you two came and brightened our world for us!"

"Now there is something new," Daria said. Looking at Tom she went on, "I don't think I have ever been told I brightened someone's world. Well, except maybe by Tom after a couple of drinks."

"Hey," Tom retorted.

Maggie and Terry laughed so hard they had to put their drinks down. Terry commented, "Daria, some people just can't understand either your sense of humor or the depth of your intellect. Tom clearly does and I think we do as well. I can certainly understand why you and Tom make such a great couple. That is why we have found it so enjoyable having you here. So please don't apologize for needing your sleep. You have a big day tomorrow. You will love Munich. I'll make sure I give Tom some pointers on sights to see."

...

The alarm went off at 6:00 am. They were going to have to be at the city train station in just over an hour. They got out of bed and quickly showered and brushed their teeth. Tom shaved. Getting dressed was very quick, since they had laid out their clothes. By 6:35 Tom was taking their bags downstairs.

Terry met them in the foyer. He was standing there in jeans and a t-shirt. He hadn't shaved yet. "Are you two sure you want to get such an early start this morning?" Terry asked. "There are later trains to Munich."

"True," Tom replied. "We just want to make sure that we get the value of the day in the city."

"OK. Not a problem," Terry said. "Come into the kitchen. I set out some breakfast and I made coffee. I would hate to have you two leave here hungry. I'd feel like a bad host!"

Tom chimed in, "Terry, you and Maggie have been such great hosts! We have really enjoyed our time with you. It has been fun. We really need to find a way to get together again when you are back in the States. You two are always welcome at our place."

Maggie came in the door. Her red mane was a little disheveled from sleep. "I just wanted to be sure I got a chance to say goodbye to you two. I've really enjoyed having you here. If you get to Atlanta or Nashville for a conference or something, then maybe we can meet. Otherwise, when we are back, you are always welcome. We can call it a big play date for our kids!"

"Sure. Baltimore, Philly, and DC are not all that far from us. If you are going to be there let Tom know," Daria added.

"We all go where the job takes us," Terry said.

Tom and Daria finished their breakfasts. Tom loaded their bags into Terry's car. It was a good thing that they traveled light! They set off in the cold morning air for the station. Upon arriving they unloaded the bags and gave Terry and Maggie each a hug goodbye. Terry and Maggie drove off and Daria and Tom watched them leave.

"Let me get the ticket," Daria said. She went over to the machine and bought two one-way tickets to the Stuttgart main station on the city train with cash. Then she bought two one-way tickets to Munich on an express train. She was deliberate about using Tom's company credit card for the tickets to Munich. If the mobsters were able to track use of one of their credit cards it was probably that one. She looked over at Tom. He had his arms folded in front of him and nodded his head. This was the signal that as best he could determine no one was watching.

"The city train arrived moments after they stepped onto the platform and they got on board. As the train made its way toward Stuttgart's main railroad station Daria's only thought was that the one potential problem in her plan would be that it might still be a bit early for there to be significant crowds on the platform and in the hall. Her plan would only work if they weren't observed. Timing was also important. Daria could tell that her nerves were clearly on edge today. Melody was enjoying this. During the trip she reached into the pocket of her bag and retrieved the miniature GPS unit.

"On arriving at the main station Daria and Tom found the elevator to the street level. They exited inside the station itself and then looked for Track 15. The station was amazingly crowded! There especially seemed to be many people heading out with skis. This was a stroke of luck. Daria had Tom position himself so that he could watch for a tail as she walked out onto the platform. They were also fortunate that the train was already parked at the platform. Daria walked down the platform and got onto one of the first class cars. She quickly slipped into one of the compartments and stuck the mini GPS unit between the seat by the aisle and the wall. She then walked to the other end of the car, exited, and walked back down the platform to return to Tom.

"Let's go," Daria said. There was a large group that had just disembarked from a regional train and was heading for the city train. Tom and Daria managed to meld into the center of the group. Once underground they were able to split off and go to the platform to await their city train. Standing on the platform near the elevator Tom and Daria paused momentarily to access the settings on their phones. They turned off both cellular service and wifi. They had turned GPS tracking off back in Paris. The train arrived in three minutes. They boarded and found seats in an area that allowed them to view the whole car. The time was 7:45 am.

"As the train traversed its route the minutes seemed to drag on. At each stop Daria felt a rush of adrenaline as she tried to observe everyone getting on. About a third of the way to the airport she leaned over to Tom and whispered, "We will arrive at the airport at 8:12. The train at the station leaves for Munich at 7:58. Depending on how well they have covered your credit card and anything they gathered at Terry and Maggie's they will be expecting us to leave on it for Munich. With luck, I figure we have until that train reaches Munich at 10:11, assuming we weren't seen. I'm hoping we can at least buy our tickets and get through passport control and security before they can figure out where we have gone. With just a little luck we will be in the air before they figure it out, but that is another two hours away. I'm hoping that the air reservation is sufficiently secure that they won't be able to find out who is on the plane – at least not before we are airborne."

Tom responded in a whisper, "No matter what we are committed. We will see this thing through."

The 27 minute ride to the airport seemed to take forever. Adrenaline was running high in both Daria and Tom. Even Melody in her head could not calm Daria. If they looked too agitated at the ticket counter it could result in closer scrutiny from security – which would cost time.

Daria's nerves were really getting to her. She felt like she was actually shaking, though maybe she was just cold. It was December after all! Among all of these feelings she could hear Melody Powers clear her throat in her head. Melody told her in no uncertain terms, 'You can do this.'

'How,' Daria thought. 'I am scared out of my mind and afraid for Tom, too. These creeps are bad people. I'm afraid that they have corrupted the system and that we will get to our point of escape and be stymied, we might be kidnapped, or worse.'

Melody started using a coaching voice saying, 'Their motive is blackmail. If it was kidnapping or murder something would have happened in the restaurant or even back in Paris or London. No, they are after something to give them leverage and they have been following you to do it. But, they are lazy. They have relied on electronics to keep tabs on you. If they were really serious, then they would keep an observer on your tail. Everything you have seen today suggests that they do not have a person watching you. Therefore, you can be confident that you have defeated their electronic surveillance for the time being. There is no reason to be worried at this point. From now until you are in the air you are in open places that make it very hard to do anything to you. As for the officials, well this is Germany not some second rate banana republic. Now get yourself under control and execute the plan we developed. It will be fine.'

Daria appreciated Melody's coaching. She was not going to stop and ponder the fact that Melody was her or that Melody had taken over a couple of times in the past few days. She was certainly not going to touch the concept that Tom found Melody attractive and that the opposite was true without a doubt. So, if Melody was just a figment of her imagination – though a figment that had given her a small but steady little income since her first year in New York – why was she now a little bit jealous? Melody was only trying to help her. Daria knew she needed to get home. She felt that she was slowly losing her mind./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Daria nudged Tom and they both took some deep breaths to control their heart rate. They used techniques they had learned in their self-defense courses to calm themselves. By the time they reached the airport both at least had their fear under control.

It only took four minutes to get to the airline counter. The time was 8:16 am. There was not a line yet, so they were able to walk right up to the representative.

Tom said, "Good morning. Are there seats available on this morning's flight to Atlanta?"

The woman looked at her computer screen and replied, "Coach is sold out. I only have seats in business class."

"That's fine," Tom replied. "We need 2 seats." He then handed over both their passports to the representative.

She responded, "Very well, Mr. Mrs. Sloane. There is just some information I will need. First, do you have bags to check?"

"Yes we do," Tom replied as he lifted their bags onto the conveyor.

She quoted him the price of the tickets. Tom gave her their personal charge card. She ran the transaction and it was approved. She then asked a number of questions of both Daria and Tom. After entering all of the information she printed their boarding passes, tagged their luggage, and then sent it down the chute. Daria and Tom headed immediately for security and passport control. It was now 8:35 am. Their flight would leave in just over 2 hours. Boarding was supposed to start an hour ahead of time, since this was an international flight to the U.S.

Passport control was also not a problem. They presented their passports to the officers. The machine read the chips in the passport and approved their departure. The officers stamped the passports and technically they had left Germany and the European Union. They were fortunate that there was not much of a line at security. So, they breezed right through. All that was left was to board the flight. It was now 8:47.

Once inside the secure area Tom and Daria started to relax a little bit. They were still being vigilant, but they decided to stop and purchase some granola bars for the flight and a couple other items as a snack. Even in business class it didn't hurt to have a few of your own supplies. They picked up a couple other items at the duty-free shop.

Tom and Daria could see the international waiting area at the end of the concourse. The walk along the concourse felt slow. It was like they were just putting one foot in front of the other. Yet, they moved right along. They arrived at the entrance to the gate area at 9:02 am. This being a flight to the U.S. there was a TSA style checkpoint and the gate area was enclosed with a clear plastic wall. Tom noted that the waiting area had its own toilet facilities. The two travelers used the special lane reserved for business class passengers and made it through quickly. At 9:06 they were seated in the waiting area. Boarding would start in 45 minutes. Their business class ticket would also afford them the privilege of boarding first or at their convenience.

The gate area gradually filled with people. At 9:55, a few minutes late, the gate agent asked for all those needing pre-boarding due to disability or traveling with infants to come to the podium and be boarded. At this point Tom turned the wifi feature of his phone on and placed a call to his father using the video calling feature. That way his call would be routed through the phone manufacturer's network not the phone system. His father answered. Clearly he had been asleep and was trying to snap awake.

Angier said groggily, "Tom, why are you calling at this ungodly hour? What is up?"

Tom replied coldly, "Are you awake and can you write?"

His father replied, "Yes. I always keep paper and pen next to the bed." He could be seen leaning over. "OK, so what is up at 4:00 am."

Tom said in an extremely serious tone, "Listen and record carefully."

"OK," his dad said. He had turned on the light. Tom could hear his mother in the background saying something.

Tom dictated, "Daria and I are on today's flight from Stuttgart to Atlanta. I need the company plane in Atlanta by 2:00 pm today. I want the pilot and co-pilot to meet us outside of customs. A couple of security people – preferably in uniform – would help as well. Make certain an attorney is there too. If we are not out by 3:30 or 3:45 pm the attorney will need to inquire about us. Once out of customs we will proceed to the company plane and home." Tom paused and took a breath. Then he said to his father, "King to queen's level three."

Angier was now fully awake and replied using especially clear diction, "Very well. Queen to king' level one." Then he recited the information back to Tom. Tom acknowledged it was correct. His father replied, "Have a good flight."

"Thanks Dad," Tom replied in a deadpan worthy of Daria and ended the call. He then turned off the wifi on his phone. Just as he ended the call the gate agent invited business class passengers to board. Tom and Daria immediately headed for the jetway. In turn they gave their passports and boarding passes to the gate agent. The agent swiped them and welcomed them to the flight. Once on board the two found their seats. The flight attendant assisted them with stowing their carry-on items and took their coats and finally offered them drinks.

The flight attendant brought the drinks they had ordered. Daria looked at her watch. It showed the time as 10:15 am. Turning to Tom she remarked, "Well, that train arrived four minutes ago. I guess the search has begun!"

Tom laughed and then sipped his drink. "I hope they enjoy their day," he retorted.

Getting everyone on board a jumbo jet, even a small one, is a long process. International flights require additional procedures and so it took 45 minutes to get everyone on the plane. Finally at 10:45 am the door was closed and the plane pushed back. They were fortunate that this time the open seats were two together in the center of the cabin. This airline didn't have little cubicles in business class, but you could still lie nearly flat. Daria could see Tom next to her. The plane taxied to the runway and Daria heard the engines spool up. As they took off she could feel herself being pushed back in her seat. Finally, they were on the way home.

...

Daria spent the first couple of hours of the flight listening to music and dozing. Their meal was served about two hours into the flight. After eating she got up to stretch. When she sat back down she leaned over to Tom's seat. He was still picking away at his food.

"Hi Tom," Daria said.

"Hi my love," Tom responded. "I thought you might have gone to sleep by now."

"After we talk for a couple minutes," Daria said. "First, I wanted to tell you that I could never have gotten through this without you. You helped keep me focused and didn't allow Melody Powers to completely take over, even though I think you have 'the hots' for her. She may be my alter ego, but she is not who I really want to be. I like being your wife. I also like being a professor."

"Thanks," Tom replied. "You know that I love you as you are no matter what. And I do not have 'the hots' for Melody Powers."

"Whatever you say dear," Daria said while cracking a half-smile. "What was that comment you made to your father? You know, 'king to queen's level three?'"

Tom answered matter-of-factly, "It is a code we have. It comes from an original episode of Star Trek when Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock had to have a way of identifying that it was really them and not an impostor. For us it means that this is a critical matter – maybe life and death – and that I am not speaking under duress. Thus, I am confident that Captain Stevens and Commander Laughlin will meet us outside of customs. I asked for backup just in case things go south there for some reason."

"I guess that it is reasonable that the one thing you two share – a love of Star Trek – should be the basis of your code. You're such a dork," Daria commented with the biggest smirk Tom had seen in over a week. "OK. I am going to go to sleep now. If I am lucky I should be able to get in four hours or so." Daria leaned over farther and kissed Tom.

"Sleep well my love. I am going to do the same." Tom replied.

Daria opened the package containing her eye shades; she arranged her pillow and blanket and then moved her seat into the flat sleeping position. This was the great thing about flying in business class – the ability to get some real sleep. She adjusted her eye shades and fell almost immediately into a deep, and thankfully dreamless sleep.


	10. Chapter 9: Flight of Frustration

**Chapter 9: Flight of Frustration**

Once again getting off of the plane it was an advantage being in business class. Tom and Daria were allowed off first, which meant that they had a substantial head start getting to passport control. The machines were aggravating. Probably the most humiliating part for Daria was when the machine took her picture and she had to admit it was her. Her passport picture was bad enough – it wasn't like she considered herself to be photogenic – but his was humiliating. Then she had to take her receipt to an officer anyway, who again admitted it was her and let her into the country. Things were screwed up enough as it was. Adding more pictures and a computer just made it worse. Well, at least she and Tom were back in the U.S. Now to get the luggage and hope that customs didn't think they were a two person drug cartel or something. After all they were coming back home early to get away from the bad guys.

It took about 20 minutes before their bags arrived on the baggage carousel. Daria thought that at the very least they appeared not to have been run over by any trucks. She and Tom went through with nothing to declare. Then they were fortunate enough to get picked to go through the agriculture line. Great, another waste of time. God forbid they bring a ham sandwich back from Europe.

They walked up to the screening officer. He started in on the standard list of forbidden fruits, vegetables, etc. Tom said calmly, "Officer, we've been in Europe for just two weeks on business. We were in London, Paris, and Stuttgart. The only things we are bringing home are a couple of clothing items and some chocolate we bought at the duty free store. Please x-ray our bags if you like, but we are just trying to get home."

The officer looked at their bags, which were not that much bigger than carry-on luggage and said, "OK. Here is your receipt. Just go through the exit over there."

"Thank you." Tom replied. "We really appreciate it."

Tom and Daria turned in their receipt and went directly to the exit from agriculture. The exit from customs was just through the transfer area, where people dropped their checked luggage so that it could be routed to their connecting flights. Then they had the joy of submitting themselves to the TSA. Fortunately, Tom and Daria were not connecting and were able to go to the exit without the TSA check.

The blacked out doors opened with a swoosh and Tom and Daria walked into the arrival terminal with their luggage in tow. Scanning the crowd quickly, Tom spotted Captain Samuelson, the company pilot, and waived at him. The pilot saw him and they made their way toward each other. As Tom almost reached the pilot he suddenly came face to face with his father.

Angier moved forward quickly and embraced his son. Tom was shocked and didn't know quite how to respond. It took a moment, but he embraced his dad. Then Angier released him, walked over and hugged Daria. Daria, not much of a hugger other than of Tom, just stood there. She gradually put her arms loosely around Angier.

"Hi, thanks for coming," she said.

"We need to go," Angier ordered. "We'll talk on the plane." He turned on his heel and led the way. Angier effectively took point while the others formed up around Tom and Daria. They made their way through the airport as a unit. There was a van waiting for them at the curb. Angier opened the side door and they all got in. One of the security men loaded the luggage into the back of the van.

The driver drove off as soon as all the doors were closed. Tom looked at the driver. He couldn't see the driver's face, but the set of the shoulders seemed familiar.

In less than ten minutes the van pulled up to general aviation. The driver got out, came around and opened the side door. Someone opened the back door, pulled out the luggage and started toward the plane. As Tom got out he knew why he recognized the driver, it was his mother - Kay. He paused and was about to say something.

"Get moving both of you," Kay ordered. "Follow Captain Samuelson to the plane. I'm taking up the rear."

The van drove off with a security man at the wheel. The people accompanying Daria and Tom again formed up around them. They walked together to the plane. A security man was standing in the doorway. He walked down and reported to the pilot that the aircraft was secure. The group waited at the foot of the stairs until the captain had gone in and checked it out himself. Tom saw their bags being loaded into the luggage bay. Captain Samuelson came back to the door and motioned them to come in. Angier went first followed by the co-pilot and then the rest of the family members. Security stayed on the tarmac. The co-pilot waived at security and the stairs were raised. The plane's auxiliary power unit was running so the Captain started the engines.

"Everyone please be seated and buckle in," the Captain announced over the intercom. The Sloanes quickly took their seats and no sooner were they buckled in than the plane started moving. In less than 15 minutes they were airborne.

"OK," Daria said in an angry tone. "What is up that we had to cut our trip short because people – probably associated with some eastern European mafia – were following us all over Europe? I was especially unappreciative of the guy who showed up in the restaurant in Esslingen. I thought we had shaken those goons!"

Tom piped up with, "I agree with Daria, Dad. What have you gotten us into? You know I have a family to protect!"

Angier took a deep breath. "So do I! I have not gotten you into anything. Jenkins in the U.K. Office took on an account which turned out to be a shell company for a criminal organization based in the Balkans. As a matter of course the organization wanted leverage with our firm so that we would do illegal things for them, specifically money laundering. The goal was to compromise you two and have something to hold over our heads. While you were trying to stay off the grid, our U.K. Office came up with some incriminating documents. I made Jenkins take them to Scotland Yard himself. Thames Security followed up to make certain they were received. The information has been shared with the FBI as well as French and German police. Parts of the Balkans are a complete mess. It is sometimes difficult to tell who is government, mafia, or both. So there is little chance that they will extradite the criminals to the U.K. We have dropped the client and their offices have been raided by MI-5, as well as the French and the Germans. That piece is now out of business."

"I'm still concerned," Daria replied with fear still in her voice. "Those eastern European mafias can be very brutal."

"I think they will move on. There were some arrests. The French were lucky and got a high ranking person in the process. The Mafiosi will be spending their time fighting each other for the spoils. This was a big break and a substantial network has been taken down," Angier replied. "Don't underestimate what you have set in motion."

"I just don't want someone coming after me or Tom or our baby," Daria said.

"They won't," Angier replied. Turning to Tom he said, "Your Mother and I flew to DC yesterday and spent much of the afternoon and early evening with an old friend from Bromwell. He is Special Agent in Charge of an FBI task force on Balkan gangs. He brought with him a counterpart from CIA who introduced himself as 'Mr. Clark.' They have been monitoring activities in both the Balkans and the U.S. Several arrests have been made and a couple of high level Mafiosi have met with unfortunate accidents, seemingly at the hands of rivals. The particular group you encountered does not have the resources or contacts to act in the U.S. They were both very clear on that."

Angier went on, "In fact, for your peace of mind I have taken the liberty of having a state-of-the-art security system installed in your place. It is based on cellular technology so even if the power is cut there is battery backup and the police will be called. Anyone trying to break in would have to knock out the power to two cell towers in order to bypass the system. There is also encoded video which travels over cell phone rather than internet. Thus it is virtually impossible to hack. There is even encoded radio that will reach the security firm if both cell towers go down."

Tom looked at his Father and said, "I guess I should thank you for the security system. However, I am still unhappy about the circumstances that led to needing it. The other question I have is, Mom, why did you come along on this trip?"

Kay Sloane paused for a moment before looking at Angier, Daria, and then Tom. "There are a couple of reasons. First, I was deeply concerned about you and Daria. And yes, Daria, I do love you too. We may be very different people and not agree on many things, but that doesn't mean I don't care for you. I consider you just as much a member of this family as my own children and that is not just because you are pregnant with my first grandchild."

"The second reason is a little more complicated," Kay said. "Tom, do you know what my major was in college?"

"Sure," Tom said. "You got your degree in sociology."

"That is only part of the story," Kay said. "I actually started out in criminal psychology. I was interested in organized crime. To make a long story short I found some of it so disturbing I couldn't continue. In the process I met and dated a fellow criminal psychology student, Mitch, whom we met with yesterday. I hadn't seen him in thirty years. I broke up with him when I changed my major. I couldn't take that world any more. I met your father just a month later. When I found out who your Dad was going to meet I just had to go along. Besides, I think it helped us get more information out of him."

Daria deadpanned, "So your old boyfriend came through with otherwise unavailable information. Not a totally bad strategy." With a certain note of playfulness in her voice Daria went on, "You used the 'hotness factor' to your advantage and you didn't even kill him when you had the information you wanted."

Kay chuckled, "Why thank you for the complement, Melody. I do think I am pretty well preserved! Besides, the government takes a dim view of people killing federal officials, especially when those officials are doing you a big favor! Oh, and don't think I haven't read all of your Melody Powers novels, Daria. I like to know what my daughter-in-law is thinking."

Once again in total deadpan Daria remarked, "l'll remember that next time Tom gets out of line."

Looking at the two women Tom commented, "Hey, I'm sitting here you know!"

Angier chuckled and then got up and poured a round of sodas. The group all sat there and sipped their drinks as the plane made its way toward Lawndale Municipal Airport.

After landing Tom and Daria picked up his car from the airport parking lot. The drive home was uneventful and they disarmed and rearmed their new security system upon entering their townhouse.

Daria said to Tom in total deadpan, "Well, now after that adventure we need to decide what we will do on New Year's Eve. We won't be dancing in Vienna!"

"Well," Tom said. "I'm sure that the club will have a New Year's Eve party. My mother can make certain we have tickets."

Daria picked up a small pillow from the couch and started hitting Tom with it. She chased him upstairs and into the bedroom. Together they fell onto the bed exhausted.


	11. Chapter 10: Not Again!

**Chapter 10: Not Again!**

It was a cold January morning and Daria stood in her office staring out the window. The sun was barely up. It was that time of year when she went to work in the dark and drove home in the dark. She could dimly see her reflection in the window. She saw her auburn hair framing her oval face. She was wearing an orange blazer over an emerald green cashmere sweater and black pants. The pants were getting just a little bit tight. Daria could tell she was starting to gain weight from her pregnancy.

As she looked beyond her reflection, Daria saw that there was no snow on the ground and the grass was brown in the quadrangle. The trees were leafless and the grounds crew had removed all of the holiday decorations just after New Year's. The opposite end of the quadrangle was open and that gave Daria a view back toward the town. All in all it was a fairly ugly scene. Yet, Daria had never felt so glad to be back in her office. It was warm, her bookshelves were filled, no one was chasing her, and in just a couple of hours it would be time to teach her first class of the semester. She was comfortable and ready to face whatever challenges her students brought to her.

Daria was jolted from her musings by a knock on her office door. She took a few steps, reached over and cracked open the door. She stuck her head out, but did not open the door wide. Standing outside looking far too cheery was Perry Samson, Daria's first graduate student. Daria was his advisor for his master's thesis, which had to do with vampire literature and legends across cultures and basically anything that existed before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula.

"Good morning Dr. Sloane," Perry said. "Did you have a really nice break? How did you and your husband like your trip to Europe?"

Daria thought, 'How can someone who is studying vampires be so darn cheery?' Then she said to Perry, "The break was OK. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as we expected in Europe and we came home early. Still, I got some really good work done at the British Library."

Perry jumped right in, "Sorry to hear things didn't go as planned, but I'm glad to hear your time at the British Library was productive. Anyway, I just want to set a time that we can sit down and discuss my research. I think I have made good progress."

"Have you started writing?" Daria asked. This position with her head out the door was not very comfortable, but she didn't want Perry coming in and sitting down. He could easily consume more than an hour of her time.

"Not yet," Perry answered. "I wanted to check things out with you first."

"Okay," Daria responded in her characteristic deadpan. "Here is what we are going to do. First, you are going to write a draft of the first chapter of your thesis. Then you are going to email it to me as an attachment to a meeting request. I keep my schedule up-to-date on the university's calendar system. You can see when I am free. I will respond to your request and we can sit down and meet. With a draft of the first chapter we will actually have something to talk about. Understand?"

"Yes Dr. Sloane," Perry answered. He sounded a little disappointed. Then he thanked Daria for her time and walked away.

Daria closed the door and then sat down at her desk. She turned her chair toward the window. She knew that if Perry was going to move forward with his thesis he had to start writing. If she wasn't a little hard on her students, then they wouldn't perform. Too many were lazy or felt entitled.

Daria turned to her computer and went through her email. There was nothing terribly important in it. She found a reminder about preparing her annual evaluation package, something she did not have to do as a first year faculty member. Then she found an email with a subject line 'Missed you in Munich.' Looking at the content side of the screen she read the message, 'You did not show in Munich. You should have told me. Now look at this website.' Then it gave a link.

It was clear to Daria that this was not something legitimate. Her feeling of peace and quiet immediately evaporated. She pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and placed a call to Tom. He answered on the second ring.

"Hi Daria," Tom said. "What's up?"

"Tom," Daria said in total deadpan. "We have a problem."

"Tell me about it," Tom replied. Daria told him all about the email and her concerns. Tom in turn told her to hold on. He would contact his computer support department and then call her back. In the meantime, she was not to go the link. At best it was some type of malware.

Daria ended the call with Tom. It was very easy for anyone to get her work email. She worked for a public university and all they had to do was go to the faculty directory on the university's web site. So, no matter what it was easy for the goons in Europe to reach out and touch her.

Daria was starting to watch the clock until she had to leave for class. She shuffled files in the learning management system while she waited. It took about a half hour for Tom to call back.

"I think we have a plan. Given the police actions on these guys in Europe, my systems manager is going to have a conference call with Lawndale State's Information Technology Director and the Chief of the Campus Police. The basic plan will be to set up an isolated computer that looks like your computer on the internet. We will then go to the website and see what is there. My personal hunch is that it will be something with encrypts your hard drive and won't release it until they are paid or get what they want. By accessing the site from an isolated and otherwise empty computer it won't matter. We just reformat it. If it is something else, then we have pros ready to deal with it – including law enforcement."

"I guess I feel better," Daria said. "I am not a computer person, so I have to trust 'the pros.' Even though they may be the ones that seem to do less than a stellar job of maintaining my office computer."

"It will be fine sweet love of mine," Tom replied. "Just go about your day. Teach your classes. I will let you know what happens later."

…..

With all of the upset dealing with a criminal organization it was almost surreal for Daria to once again stand in front of a class. There were a few students she recognized from her fall freshman class. As with most college classes Daria spent the first hour of the semester calling roll, going over the schedule of what they would be learning, the tests, the grading and her general expectations for the class. All in all it was very pedestrian. As usual she expected only about three or four of the thirty students to look even mildly interested. She was surprised in this first class that almost half paid attention the whole period and didn't even look at their phones – even when she launched into the first lecture and gave them their first reading assignment.

After class Daria was gathering up her materials when a young woman approached her.

"Hi Dr. Sloane! Remember me?" the young woman asked.

Daria looked up and answered trying to put a bit of excitement in her voice, "Why certainly Margie! I could never forget you." Of course she couldn't forget Margie. She remembered Margie's name as 'Margie the Mortician,' since Margie's major was mortuary science. She was also smart and had earned one of the three A's Daria have given out in that class.

"Thanks so much for the A last semester," Margie said.

Daria replied, "You earned it. I only gave out three of them in your class."

Margie commented in a voice that bordered on being bubbly, "But you are such a good teacher Dr. Sloane. That's why my friends and I made sure we took you again this semester. We really like the fact that you make this stuff interesting. Sure, it is just deadly dull material, but at least you give some life to it. We especially like the snarky comments you make about some of the authors. Your occasional comments about the students are fun, too. I guess you just have a fun personality!"

Daria looked at Margie the Mortician and actually smiled briefly. Then she said in her total deadpan, "Margie you are really something. I have been called many things in my life, but being told I have a fun personality is certainly not one of them. Thank you. I hope you will work just as hard in this class as you did in my fall class. I think you got a lot out of it."

"I'll see you next time," Margie said. "I have to get to class. It's really fun, too. It is 'Introduction to Embalming Techniques.' See you!" And with that Margie was out the door.

Daria briefly put her face in her hands. She couldn't help but think how she had pitied some of the boys that she had gone out with at Raft – none more than once. Hopefully Margie had someone like Tom in her life. Daria couldn't begin to imagine the dinner conversation on a date with that girl!

As she walked back to her office she could feel her phone vibrate. Pulling it out she could see that it was Tom calling. "Hi Tom," Daria said.

"Daria, we have an appointment over at the Campus Police Station at 5:30 pm this afternoon. My computer systems manager has been in touch with them and your Information Technology department. Together we are going to check out what these criminals are doing. In fact, the Campus Police Chief thinks he may be able to document several felonies. If we can identify the perpetrators and get them to the U.S., then there will be a nice jail cell waiting for them."

Daria replied in total deadpan, "There are several big 'ifs' in that statement. But, OK. We will see what happens. See you at 5:30." With that she ended the call and walked into her office.

The afternoon seemed to drag on. Daria sat at her desk processing the information she had obtained at the British Library. It had helped her finish one paper that she was sending off for a meeting next October. Along with the two papers based on her doctoral thesis she had sent to two different literature journals it looked like she would have a productive first year of scholarship at Lawndale State. Now she just had to keep this whole computer thing from intruding on her mind. It seemed like an eternity before the reminder popped up on her computer screen at 5:15 pm that she had a 5:30 pm appointment over at Campus Police. Daria got up, put on her coat, and headed out.

Daria walked into the campus police station and was directed to a conference room. There seemed to be quite a crowd. Tom came over and introduced his computer systems manager. The campus police chief introduced himself, and so did the Lawndale State IT director. She was also introduced to one of the IT staff members. There was a desktop computer sitting on a table and the IT staffer was using a wireless keyboard and mouse. A projector took the place of the monitor.

The police chief asked everyone to sit down and then started the meeting. "I want to thank everyone for coming here this evening. We are all here to support Dr. Sloane. Thank you again Dr. Sloane for bringing this to our attention. Normally IT would simply have the person receiving the email in question just delete it. But, given that the Sloanes were targeted by a criminal organization while traveling in Europe over the break, we thought it best to take this seriously and be proactive. The email seems to refer to their trip, so it is not just the usual phishing email. First, let me point out that we are recording this session for possible use by the State Attorney General's Office. The computer is the property of Lawndale State University, which is a state institution. Second, because this has come to Dr. Sloane's university account any threat to Dr. Sloane or attempt at blackmail is a felony. It is being committed against a state employee in the course of doing her job. So, we will see what happens!"

The next person to speak was the university's IT manager. "I have created a backup copy of your email account. So, all of your materials and contacts are safe. I also created some fake contacts so that if there is an attempt to use your account for spam we know where the spam will go. Now let's give this a try!" The manager clicked on the link in the suspicious email.

What came next was horrifying. First, there was the message, 'You have until 1800 Zulu tomorrow to respond to this email or else these materials will be released.' The second message was also disturbing, 'You will make GS&P take the account for AGP Transit. We will then direct them what to do. This must be accomplished within 3 days.' The third part of the message was quite clear, 'Failure to do any of this will result in the release of our materials. You do not want that to happen.'

The materials attached were disgusting. Daria remarked, "Well, it doesn't take much to tell that is not my body. And it certainly isn't Tom's either." Since the criminals had clearly failed to get any pictures of Daria and Tom in intimate positions with their hidden cameras back in Paris, they had taken pictures of others and grafted Tom and Daria's faces onto them.

The IT manager spoke next. He was sitting looking at a small laptop computer. "OK, I am watching what is happening on our network. The next thing we will do is respond to your email with our own bot attached. It will give us a trace of the email. It will also give us the location of the source and hopefully identify the people associated with it. Also, the bot will trap and examine any email with a Bosnian address as the origin or anywhere in the routing."

"That is pretty amazing," Tom remarked. "Is there anything you can do to actually damage their computer?"

The IT manager turned to Tom and replied, "Actually you can. It is a multi-step process. First you scramble the boot sector and erase the file allocation tables on the main disk. Then do the same on any other disks present on the computer. Next you start reformatting the hard disks. If you create an infinite loop, then you can keep restarting the process until the system fails. If you are lucky the whole thing overheats and catches fire. However, that is not what we are trying to do today. That would be up to the Feds."

The Campus Police Chief stated, "I think I have enough now for a couple of felony complaints. Why don't you go ahead and deploy your bot."

The IT manager asked Daria, "How would you answer this email?"

Daria thought for a moment, "Try this: 'I do not want those pictures of me posted. I will prevail on my husband to take the account.' Let's call it false hope on their part. At least it will buy some time before they put those pictures out there somewhere. If we are lucky, they are very amateurish and won't have backups and we are done."

The IT manager typed the email and sent it. "Now we will see what happens. Dr. Sloane, I have set up your email account to try and trap anything coming from these criminals. With your permission I can monitor the account here in my office."

"Of course," Daria replied. She didn't use her university account as her personal email account anyway. She simply didn't like the idea that her employer could have access to anything personal.

The campus police chief got up and thanked everyone for coming. "It will surely be a few days before we know anything. In the meantime we will continue to monitor Dr. Sloane's fake email account and see what happens."

"Thank you everyone," Daria said. She, Tom, and the others got up and left the room.

Once they both arrived home Tom tried to reassure his wife, who seemed to be in a serious funk. She just stood by the living room window and stared out into the darkness. "Sweet love of mine," he said. "We have broken the ties to the criminals as best we can. Our credit cards have been reissued and we have engaged the best identity theft company to monitor our accounts. We have had high level professionals sweep our phones so that we know there is nothing on them to track us or otherwise spy on us. We have even had your phone number converted over to one of the secure phones we use at GS&P. Short of changing our names, and retreating to a mountain cabin and going totally 'off the grid' there is nothing more to be done. You are safe my dear and we will keep it that way."

"I know," Daria replied in total deadpan. "I appreciate that you will go so far to take care of me. Of us really, if you count the little bun in here," she remarked while patting her abdomen. "It is just that it was a tough several months with the accident and then our derailed vacation. I'm sorry if I am a downer. Thanks for putting up with me."

"Daria, I love you more than anything and anyone in the world and you know that. I don't just put up with you. If you are down, then let me hold you and comfort you. For better or worse, I don't think that this bunch of criminals will consider us worth pursuing. There are other equally good if not better targets out there."

Daria turned around and looked at her husband. "I hope you are right," She responded and then hugged him.


	12. Chapter 11: A Day in a Life

**Chapter 11: A Day in a Life**

It was Monday morning. Daria got out of her car. It wasn't yet drizzling, though she had run the windshield wipers once or twice on the way. She thought, 'Nothing like drizzle in late January.' She walked around her car, removed her charging cable from the trunk and plugged her car into the charging station outlet. Lawndale State had just installed additional parking spaces with charging stations for plug-in hybrid cars. Arriving a half hour before classes started was enough to get Daria one of those spaces. She decided to get into the office early today to finish up her presentation for the conference. She was looking forward to this conference not only because it was an opportunity to find out about the latest research in comparative literature, but also because it was in Tampa, Florida. Daria was ready to go and visit summer and feel some warmth again. Tom had left early in the morning to catch a flight to Baltimore on his way to Minneapolis for a three day meeting with clients. So, it turned out this was a very opportune time to go to a conference.

As she walked into the office Daria noticed immediately that she was not the first one there. The secretary was already there.

"Good morning Daria!" Brittany said in her characteristic high pitched voice that seemed to end every sentence with a squeak. In her early 30's Brittany was still the tall, attractive, buxom blonde she had been in high school, well except for the tiny crow's feet at the corner of her eyes. There was also a little more brain there than before, but not much. She had traded cheerleading for parenthood and single parenthood at that. Her first husband had left her for someone else – Daria did not care to know the details. "Are you ready to go to Florida and get some sun? I sure wish that I was going with you. This is the part of winter that is the hardest. It is cold, gray and boring. The holidays are long over, I don't really have anyone for Valentine's Day, and there is just nothing until Easter. Even then Easter is kind of early this year. So, we may not really have spring weather yet. I don't know about you, but I think that things just get really boring. The Superbowl is the only thing left. I'm not really into basketball. I like baseball a whole lot better. It at least gets you outside in the park. It seems like the best I can do right now is Zumba class. Are you taking any classes like yoga or something with your pregnancy?"

"Not really," Daria replied. Brittany's mindless prattle was enough to drive Daria crazy at this hour of the morning. What was worse was that she brought up sports. "I am looking forward to this conference, but it is because of the sessions I can go to not because I want to go and spend time in the sun, though I will admit that it will be nice to feel warmth again." Daria thought, 'At least Brittany had brewed the first pot of coffee for the day. There was some redeeming feature of encountering her in the office!'

"You really should have some fun while you are down there. You professors seem to just get caught up in all your dull academic stuff and never want to have any fun! You should at least skip out and have a day at the beach."

"Thanks Brittany. I'll think about that. Maybe I will pack a bathing suit," Daria said as she poured herself some coffee, grabbed yesterday's mail out of her box and headed down the hall to her office. The encounter had kind of broken the mood of the morning. Daria was perfectly happy with mild melancholy in the morning. Then it was disturbed by that bubbly cheeriness rearing its ugly head on her day.

Once in her office Daria started her computer, set down her coffee, took off her coat and hung it on the back of the door. She sat down and after logging in first checked her email to see if there was anything from the Balkans. Thankfully there wasn't. Maybe that nightmare in her life was finally over. She went through and sent all of the junk emails to the trash, so that she wouldn't have to be bothered with them. She started reading the remainder of the new emails in her account.

Looking down the list she saw the usual university communications: announcements of various seminars, colloquia, and talks by visitors from around the world. Her department had a visitor from China, who was holding a series of talks about literature trends since the Cultural Revolution with an emphasis on writings in the 21st century. Daria had attended several. It had become clear to her very quickly that writing in a country which strictly – and sometimes viciously – censored authors did not produce particularly vibrant and rich literature. If anything the talks had become a forum to promote the current propaganda of the communist party. It was mildly interesting to see what the current political fad was, but that was about it. Daria sometimes wondered about the real mission of the visiting scholar. Surely there was nothing worth spying on in Lawndale or Lawndale State University. She did always seem to have Chinese students in her office. At least their government was smart enough to send someone who spoke English well! This was probably a good idea when they were being sent to a university English department.

Once she was through both the mail and her email, Daria set about putting the final touches on her presentation. She was lucky enough not to have class until early in the afternoon. So, the morning could be spent putting the finishing touches on her conference presentation and catching up on some grading. All-in-all she looked forward to a productive morning.

About two hours into the morning Daria was done with her presentation. Just as she finished saving the file there was a knock at her door. She quickly downloaded the file to a stick and put the stick in her pocket. She would load it on her laptop at home and take both to the conference. Daria got up, walked around her desk in the cramped office, and opened the door.

Perry Samson stood there looking way too cheery for a January morning. "Good Morning Dr. Sloane!" He said in an all too cheery voice. "I submitted my first chapter to you this morning and was wondering if we could go over it. I saw on your calendar that you were free now."

First Brittany and now Perry. Why was everyone so darned perky on a gray day like this? Daria replied to Perry in total deadpan, "If you just submitted it this morning what makes you think I have even seen it yet?"

"Well, I sent it to your email," Perry replied.

"Look. I check my email maybe two to three times per day. I was here early this morning and did not have an email from you at that time. So, I will probably see it when I check at lunchtime. Even when I do see it, then you need to allow me at least a week to read it and critique it. I am leaving for a conference later today and so I won't be able to see you before next Wednesday at the earliest. Please check my calendar for next week and send me a meeting invitation." With that Daria turned and closed the door and stood with her back to it. She thought, 'This was one of the problems with these kids today. They expect that I can just skim their work and then magically declare it acceptable without serious review.' Then she thought, 'Oh God, did I just think that? I sound like an old person! Well, Mom's late hippie friend said I had an 'old soul.' Oh well.' Daria returned to her desk and started working on her grading.

When Daria was about half finished with her grading there was another knock on the door. Once again she got up, walked around her desk and opened it. There stood one of the students from her afternoon class. She asked, "Are we going to get our papers back today?"

Daria stood in her doorway, leaned against the doorjam, folded her arms and replied, "What did I say in our last class meeting?"

"That we would get out papers back," the young woman responded.

"OK, then I think you should plan on getting your papers back, assuming that I do not have so many interruptions that I cannot finish grading them."

"Thanks," the young woman said. Then she walked off.

Daria closed her door and went back to grading.

About five minutes later there was another knock on the door. The interruptions were starting to irritate Daria. She opened the door and once again a student asked whether or not the papers would be returned. Daria responded in the affirmative. After the fourth interruption and response Daria was annoyed. She took a piece of paper and wrote on it, 'Grading – Do Not Disturb' and taped it to the outside of her door. Then she went back to her grading.

Lunchtime finally rolled around. Daria completed the grading and grade entry with about 45 minutes to spare before class. She grabbed her thermal lunch bag and ate her sandwich and drank her juice while going over email and starting to read Perry's thesis chapter. It seemed to her that as soon as she finished eating it was time to go to class. She copied her notes onto a memory stick and walked out of the office toward the classroom. She had set the timing for the assignments on the learning management system so that they would become visible to the students five minutes after the beginning of class.

Teaching today was much like any other day. As the junior most faculty member she got to teach the students during the "death hour" – the hour after lunch when the blood in their bodies flowed away from their brains to their stomachs in order to digest their food. Just keeping them awake was a feat in and of itself. It was even worse since these were freshmen. They tended to over eat the starchy cafeteria food. This was a huge contributor to the 'freshman 15' weight gain. What they needed to do was eat a third as much, get some protein, and some complex carbohydrates so that they had some energy that would last through the afternoon.

Daria had a strategy. She needed to keep the students moving and thinking. So, for this course she divided her class into 15 minute segments punctuated by 5 minute segments – called it content and commercials. This was a pace that would at least keep the students awake. Now if they would just think about the books they were supposed to be reading. Most didn't know the difference between how to read a work of literature versus casually reading a billboard. They needed to read using methods to retain information. She had tried to introduce some of these methods during the first two weeks of the course. Most were not retaining it, so now she had to spend time repeating herself. Daria hated that, but students this young still needed repetition. She prayed she didn't wind up with a bulging eye and constant feeling of failure like Mr. DeMartino did back in high school.

The course itself was a survey of literature, which counted as one of the possible freshman English choices Lawndale State students could select. Like all of the freshman English courses it was heavy on writing. The reading was a smattering of works from ancient to modern. The modern works included both literature originally written in English and a few translated pieces. The challenge for the students was not only to get through the volume of reading, but to perceive the thread that wound its way through all of these works. Daria felt that as a professor it was her job to lead them down the path, but not hold their hands all along the way. They had to learn to think for themselves and think critically. That was the theory anyway. What concerned her was that too many students wanted to be told what to think. Daria had never been one who liked to be told what to think.

Standing in front of the 30 students in her class Daria said, "Your graded papers are now posted. Let's discuss the ideas you came up with. Here are some things I observed while grading …"

When class was finally over Daria couldn't wait to get back to her office. She had just 4 hours before going to the airport. There was a department faculty meeting this afternoon and she wanted to use that time to take one final look at her presentation and maybe even practice it once. She also wanted to try and anticipate questions which might be asked.

…

Daria made a quick trip to the library right before the faculty meeting. The place had been recently renovated and to Daria's annoyance the emphasis in the renovation had nothing to do with books. The modern campus library was supposed to be an 'information hub' that included computers with access to a myriad of databases, meeting rooms, student and community services somehow related to information, a coffee shop, and then as an afterthought some shelves with books and a few magazines. It hardly seemed like a place for serious scholarship anymore. Gone were the days of 'browsing the stacks.' Instead, books were ordered from either your computer or one inside the library. You had to know what you wanted. All in all it was a big disappointment. While the coffee shop was a godsend nevertheless Daria really didn't think it should be in the library. She couldn't dispute, however, that it got far more students in the building than would otherwise be here. In any event, Daria needed a latte with at least one extra shot of espresso in order to live through the faculty meeting. She walked up to the student at the ordering station and ordered an Irish cream latte with an extra shot. She silently apologized to her baby. She needed the caffeine to at least get her onto the plane this evening.

Daria walked into the Department of English Conference Room. She found a seat near the far end of the conference table. Anyone who thought academia was a luxurious ivory tower hadn't been in this conference room. She was never quite sure if the smell was something long dead in the room or her fellow faculty members – a couple of whom could be walking dead. The long wooden tables had been acquired from the Library – some 30 years ago just before its last renovation. The chairs were about the same vintage. The foam had totally broken down and Daria might as well have been sitting on a bare board. Her theory was that the discomfort helped keep department faculty awake during what were mostly deathly dull meetings!

With English being a requirement for all undergraduate majors at the university their department was large by Lawndale State standards. Most were 6 to 10 faculty members. In English there were 20 faculty members altogether. Daria was the only new assistant professor this year. Last year there had been two. At the moment the department was fairly balanced with 3 part-time instructors, 4 assistant professors, 6 associate professors, and 7 full professors. However, over the next five years there would likely be more retirements.

One by one the members of the department filtered in. She just hoped that Prof. Czylok didn't sit next to her. He was internationally known in the field of American Literature for his expertise on Walt Whitman poetry. He was also known for having only one suit, which he wore every day and never bothered to take to the cleaners. Daria guessed one way to keep meetings short was to have everybody trying to escape the room before they gagged!

Cate Jones walked into the room. Tall, thin, wrinkled with gray eyes and sporting long gray hair below her shoulders, Daria actually felt sorry for Cate. She had been with the department for almost 40 years. She was clearly the most senior faculty member. Unfortunately, she did not get any respect from the other senior faculty – because she lacked a doctoral degree. She had started teaching back when the university was just a small state teachers' college and they had even given people without doctorates the title of Assistant Professor. That would never happen today. Daria wished that the other faculty members would respect her for her amazing talents as a teacher. She really did get the interest of students in the material of the freshman English classes she taught. Daria was trying to get Cate to mentor her teaching. Cate walked over and sat next to Daria. The smell of cigarette smoke was heavy on her clothes and on her breath.

Turning and looking at Daria Cate remarked, "Well, which blowhard do you think will monopolize the meeting today?"

"I can't say," Daria responded. "But it would be nice once in a while to get through Bill's agenda rather than get sidetracked." Dr. Bill Culbertson was the department chair and lived down the street from Jake and Helen Morgendorffer.

"That is for sure. Oh look, here comes Dev. If Dev Gupta can't steal a meeting, then I don't know who can! Surely he will want to talk about salaries and benefits, especially his own!" The two women chuckled. With a sigh Cate added, "Well, when in your own mind you are eminently qualified to drone on about anything…"

Brittany came in and sat on the other side of Daria and prepared to take the minutes of the meeting. That meant pulling out the little digital recorder and turning it on. It certainly seemed that since Daria had arrived back in Lawndale that Brittany was much more comfortable sitting next to her than next to any of the other faculty members. Daria figured that this was because she was not only familiar, but that Daria was not condescending or cruel to Brittany. That was not true of some of the other faculty. Brittany was certainly dumb, especially compared to the others in the room. But, she did not need to be reminded of that fact.

As everyone was seated, Dr. Culbertson came in and started the meeting. "Does everyone have an agenda? Raise your hand if you do not." He asked. About half the people gathered raised a hand and Brittany got up and handed them printed agendas. They started through the usual announcements that could have been sent as simple emails or in many cases already had. In less than ten minutes a third of the faculty were staring at their phones. Daria was not being so rude.

Dr. Culbertson stopped and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Then he said, "I have received the distribution of grades in freshman English from Fall. There has been a significant negative shift in the average freshman grade in the course. The proportion of failures is unchanged, but there was clearly a greater percentage of 'Ds' and 'Cs' than a year ago. Since most of you teach at least one section of the course, I want to hear what happened."

"Every year these freshman seem to get worse," Dr. Gupta intoned. "We really need to speak to these public schools, especially Lawndale High. They either need to improve their teaching of literature and writing or get better teachers. The students are simply unprepared to meet my standards, which are wholly reasonable for college level reading and writing."

"So, let me ask a question here. Are you saying that the public schools should all be looking to you for their standards?" asked Dr. Aaron Qualer.

Dr. Gupta replied, "Well, they would certainly be producing a better product if they did! I was totally appalled when a student wrote in her first paper using some of those horrible abbreviations like they use when they carry out the appalling practice of texting each other."

Cate leaned over and whispered in Daria's ear, "Probably something like 'kmn' in one of his lectures."

Daria just smiled. 'Kill me now' could certainly be a text message for many of these meetings as well. Too bad Cate was not tenured. She could have said it to the whole group.

Dr. Constance Battles, expert and lone African American in the department jumped in. "I don't think we are being sensitive enough to the backgrounds of our students. We are not being sensitive to the fact that as our numbers of underrepresented groups recruited into the freshman class increases their diverse backgrounds are not suited to the Eurocentric attitude of this faculty and the freshman course you make them endure. If you want to engage them you will have to include more African-American and Latino literature. You are asking a growing segment to read and write about things outside their cultural boundaries."

Now it was Dr. Petri's turn to jump into the fray. As a professor of writing and communications he never bothered to let subtlety interfere with what we said. "Constance, that is pure rubbish and you know it. We dumbed down the reading list for the course two years ago and specifically addressed your concerns at that time. What do want in the course – picture and pop-up books? Maybe we should have them draw pictures with crayons and color them rather than write coherent essays. That seems to be the practice in the public schools these days!"

Constance replied, "That is the most insensitive statement I think I have heard come out of your mouth in at least a month. You should apologize to everyone who worked hard on that course for saying that."

"What's the matter? Does the truth hurt?" Dr. Petri replied. "The fact is that the little idiots come in here coddled and needing their noses wiped for them. A little fear of failure never hurt. They need to step up and do the work that is assigned to them and do it well. No one in the workplace is going to hold their hands."

Dr. Peggy Kelly jumped in at this point and said, "Have we looked at the teaching methods we are using? If we could incorporate more active learning, then studies show we can better engage our students in the material! Just lecturing to them is not going to engage this generation of students."

Cate again leaned over to Daria and whispered, "Now the fun starts. Today's question is: Will it be a fire show or a water show!" Daria was beginning to wish that it was real Irish cream liqueur in her coffee and not just flavoring and an extra shot of espresso.

Petri looked at Peggy and growled, "Well, I do not need an untenured junior faculty member telling me how to teach. I know what is efficient in transmitting knowledge to freshmen. That is what over thirty years of experience in this place gives me. Lecturing senior faculty on how they should be teaching is not a good path to tenure."

Constance looked over to Peggy and attacked as well. "You go on and on about this 'active learning' stuff. But how do you know that it will engage the underrepresented students? Can you produce your precious data on that?"

"There is data on that and it shows improved learning," Peggy said with ever so slight a crack in her voice.

Constance dismissed her statement with, "Well you don't have it to cite here, so your point is unacceptable."

Dev added, "You keep coming up with this stuff, Peggy. You need to listen to the people with experience. Maybe you will learn something. I don't know what they taught you up in North Dakota or wherever it was you went to school, but here we use proven instructional methods. Not just the 'flavor of the day' or something that would fit middle school children. These are adults and they need to learn to be adults. You make me wonder about your fitness to teach here!"

At the last comment Peggy couldn't take it anymore. She got up and ran from the room crying. Side conversations were becoming arguments around the room.

Cate leaned over to Daria and whispered, "Water show. Complete with sharks."

"Alright," Dr. Culbert said banging his hand on the table. "That will be enough. Since we can't seem to have a civil discussion about the subject in this meeting I am appointing a committee to study the problem and report back to us before the end of the semester. Daria, I am appointing you to chair the committee, since you had the best student evaluations in freshman English in the fall semester. I am appointing professors Qualer, Kelly, and Zhang to work with you. I want a reasonable set of recommendations."

"Yes Dr. Culbertson," Daria replied. Daria thought, 'Great. I have the questioner, the crier, and the one who wants consensus on everything. There is just nothing like an impossible task and one which will anger the very people who will eventually vote on my tenure application, because heaven forbid they ever have to change anything.'

"Brittany, set an appointment for us next week and we will discuss the committee's task," Dr. Culbertson said.

Brittany responded, "Yes Dr. Culbertson."

By now there were only 15 minutes left in the meeting. Dr. Culbertson had only gotten to one item on the agenda, but the meeting was clearly and irretrievably out of order. He simply announced the next meeting date and they adjourned.

As she was walking back to her office Daria was approached by Cate. Cate said, "Daria, if you would like some help with this come and talk to me. I know all of these personalities quite well. When you submit your written report the wording won't be a big deal. However, you will want Aaron to do the presentation not you. He is mean enough to not only hit them between the eyes with the heresy of having to change, but he will enjoy it. There is nothing the faculty can do to him."

"Thanks Cate. I will," Daria said. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to finish up a few things and then head to the airport. I am off to a conference for a few days. I have a paper to present."

"I hope it goes well for you," Cate replied. Then the two women parted company.

Daria walked up to her office door, placed her hand on the handle and immediately heard her mobile phone emitting the ringtone for Quinn. Still in the hallway she pulled out her phone and said, "Hello."

"Daria, it's Tyler."

"What's up Tyler? Why are you on Quinn's phone?"

"Because it was in her purse which she grabbed on the way out the door going to the hospital."

Daria's eyes got wider at the word 'hospital.'

"Elias Jake Smith was born at 2:17 this afternoon! Congratulations. You are an aunt!"

Daria opened her office door and quickly walked in and sat down.

"Daria, are you still there?"

"Yes, Tyler. I'm here. Wow. A boy! Congratulations to you and Quinn. Can I talk to my sister?"

"She is right here. I'll give her the phone, but keep it short. She is really tired and we have a couple more calls to make."

"Hi Daria," Quinn said weakly.

"Congratulations on your baby boy!"

"Thanks. We named him after Dad and Tyler's Dad. You and I need to talk when I am rested. I'll have to tell you all about giving birth."

"I can't wait," Daria replied. She absent mindedly rubbed her abdomen.

"It really isn't so bad and you get a beautiful baby when you are done! Tyler got to cut the cord and Elias took right to nursing, too."

"Hmm," Daria replied feeling a tiny bit nauseated. "That is really great."

"When will you be able to come and see us?"

"Unfortunately, I have to leave for the airport shortly to go to a conference in Florida. I am guessing it will be next week before I can see Elias."

"I really want to see you, Daria. Please come as soon as you can," Quinn pleaded.

Daria was actually touched by the sound in Quinn's voice. Her sister actually missed her! She went on to say, "I am really anxious to see Elias. Now you get some rest. I will see you soon, Would you put Tyler back on the phone?"

"Hey Daria," Tyler said.

Daria snapped at Tyler, "Why didn't you at least text me that Quinn was in labor? Do my parents know yet?"

Tyler calmly responded, "Quinn went into labor about six this morning. Her water broke early and there just wasn't time. We needed to get her to the hospital and it was just one thing after another. Fortunately, there were no cops around when I was running red lights! Anyway, there just wasn't time. As for your parents, Jake and Helen are our next call."

"OK," Daria said. "Message pictures to me or at least put some up on social media so I can see the baby!"

"Will do," Tyler replied. Then he ended the call.

Daria slipped her phone in her pocket, turned her chair and stared out the window. It really struck her that the next generation of the family had made its appearance. Soon enough it would be her turn on the birthing table. Well, she couldn't dwell on these thoughts now. She had to finish her work and get to the airport. Pulling out her phone again, she texted Tom about the baby. They would talk this evening once she got to the hotel. Now back to the tasks at hand!


	13. Chapter 12: The Conference

**Chapter 12: The Conference**

At the airport Daria made her way through security. It was the usual humiliation of pulling half the stuff out of her carry on, taking off her shoes and standing in the 'strip search machine.' At least in her mind she didn't think anyone would be keeping the picture of her to hang on their wall. This was of course followed by having someone deign to allow her to pick up her stuff and head toward her flight.

The flights were blissfully uneventful. The short flight from Lawndale to Baltimore was like that ride long ago to Alternapalooza (Had it really been 15 years?) in The Tank, except that there were seats to sit on rather than sitting on an old trunk. Thankfully, the flight was short enough that she didn't have time to get motion sickness. Once she got off the plane she had to go quickly to her next gate – which was all the way across the airport, of course. Thank goodness she wasn't 7 months pregnant!

The flight to Florida at least was a plane of respectable size. But, she was stuck in the middle seat in a row behind the wing. Luckily, no one sat next to her that was larger than the seat nor did any of the people in her row emit any strong odors. The woman by the window said, "Excuse me" when she climbed over Daria to get in her seat. The man on the aisle – clearly on a business trip – politely said, "Hello" and then was looking at something on his phone. Daria stuck her nose in a book to avoid any conversation. The only people to talk to her during the three hour flight were the flight attendants asking her what she wanted to drink and if she wanted to buy their snacks. Daria took the drinks and skipped the snacks. Paying four times as much for some of the same mediocre snacks stocked at the gas station did not appeal to her. At least this was not one of those airlines that had started charging for overhead bin space. Even pregnant Daria was small enough that the cramped quarters of an airline seat still provided enough space for her to stretch her legs and relax a little bit.

Finally her plane touched down in Florida. After getting off the plane she headed to the baggage claim area and got her checked bag. Then it was off to find the hotel shuttle. Daria was thankful she didn't have to rent a car. It was not only cheaper for the university, but she hated the hassle of driving in the traffic of an unfamiliar city.

The hotel was near the airport. It was a very nice hotel, spa and conference center with palm trees in the lobby and an actual bell staff and concierge. As with so many conferences of this type, however, she was effectively on an island until she got on the shuttle back to the airport. Checking in was very easy and she was quickly up in her room. She had treated herself to the upgraded room, even though she would have to pay the difference between it and the standard room out of her own pocket. At least she didn't have to share with anyone from Lawndale State – eew. Checking her watch Daria saw it was 1:00 am. She pulled out her phone and called Tom. Since he was in Minneapolis on a business trip it was only midnight there.

"Hi Daria," Tom answered.

In total deadpan Daria replied, "Hey Tom. I just wanted to let you know that I made it here OK and that the goons at security didn't decide to haul me off, strip me, and then waterboard me because I had a deadly nail file or something."

Tom chuckled, "I miss you. Your observations are priceless. How is your room?"

"It is really quite nice. It's worth the extra money. The place is tasteful and not cold. I have a table and 4 chairs as well as a desk and chair plus a couch. There is also a microwave and refrigerator. You better be careful. I could get used to having a king size bed all to myself."

"Is there a decent view?"

"I haven't looked. It's dark, but I am on the 16th floor so surely there is a view of something other than the dumpster." Daria walked over to the window and peered through the floor length drapes. She discovered that she had a balcony, so she pulled the drapes back, opened the door and stepped out. "From the balcony it looks like I can see over the city. Since this is Florida there appear to be lots of palm trees and nothing resembling a hill in sight. Looking down I can see the pool area, hot tub and what looks like a tiki bar."

"Sounds like it should be an enjoyable stay," Tom remarked. "It is certainly better than here in Minneapolis. We are having a blizzard. It started late this afternoon. I'm glad I don't have to drive anywhere. The customer scheduled our meetings in one of the hotel conference rooms. So, my team can wait for them to come to us."

"How are the accommodations?"

"It's a nice hotel. It's a little on the modern and cold side, but not bad. It would be better if I had you in the king sized bed to keep me warm! I can't get used to sleeping without you."

"That's sweet Tom, even if I don't believe it."

"Are you ready for your presentation?"

"As ready as I will ever be. My session is tomorrow afternoon. We have the keynote speech in the morning and one set of breakout sessions followed by lunch. Then the afternoon is all breakout sessions."

"Have you decided which ones you will attend?"

"I already have my list. There are a couple of papers I really want to attend. I also want to go to the late breakout session in the afternoon which focuses on teaching. Maybe someone will have some insights on how to inspire my otherwise sleepy students."

"How are you feeling?"

"Baby and I are just fine. No nausea or other problems. I am going to have to seriously think about buying maternity clothes when I get home. I am approaching 10 lbs (4.5 kg) of weight gain and even my 'fat clothes' are getting to be only marginally comfortable. I brought a couple of dresses with me on this trip so that I wouldn't be trying to get around in pants. I'll wear a pant suit for my presentation, but that is the only time I plan to wear pants."

"Going commando for the conference?"

"You have a dirty mind, mister! You know darn well what I mean."

"OK. OK," Tom replied.

"Well, I need to unpack a little. I knew it would be late when I got here, so I brought some ramen noodles for dinner. Then I will get to bed. I love you Tom and I miss you."

"I love you and I miss you too, Daria. Call me tomorrow, OK? I want to hear how everything went."

"Sure. Bye."

"Bye, Daria."

Daria ended the call. After taking care of unpacking a few items she went and plugged in the room's coffeemaker, filled it with water, and turned it on. Since this was a nice hotel the coffee cups in the room were ceramic. She put the hot water she had made in two of them and added her noodles. Soon she was eating her dinner from the cups with a plastic fork she always kept in her bag. Sitting alone she used the time and her phone to catch up on email and read the news. Afterward to finish unwinding she caught a repeat of an episode of Sick Sad World, and then went to bed. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was looking at the clock. It showed 2:11 am.

….

Daria was sitting in the second largest ballroom of the hotel. She had managed to get six hours of sleep last night, got up and after a quick run through the shower was able to get dressed and down to the ballroom before they took away the continental breakfast items and coffee. The room was set up with rows of chairs. Aisles ran up the middle and along the sides. Daria was sitting on the side aisle with a small plate holding fruit and a muffin on her knees, a napkin in her lap, and a cup of coffee in her hand – the baby would understand. Daria needed the caffeine. Such was breakfast.

The place was at least three quarters full. Daria had picked a spot on the outside in order to be able to leave if necessary. She was a little uncomfortable, since the waist on the pantsuit was tight. The keynote speaker was about to start. Her topic: Dominant Themes in Literary Discourse from the Early 20th into the 21st Century – Progressing to the Post-Modern.

The conference chair got up and introduced himself, the organizational staff, and various important people attending the conference. It was the usual boring stuff that kicked off any conference. Then something caught Daria's attention.

The chair continued, "I am especially happy to announce that we will be offering a special session added at the last minute on spotting and developing potential new authors. Amy Barksdale, managing editor from QuickCanon Publishing, has agreed to hold a special session in this room tomorrow starting at 4:00 pm. She will address the following: Identifying students with literary talent, development of new literary talent, and preparing and submitting initial materials for consideration by a publisher. Everyone interested is invited to attend. There will be refreshments following the session sponsored by QuickCanon Publishing."

Daria thought to herself, 'I never expected to see Aunt Amy at a comparative literature conference.' She pulled out her phone and typed a quick text to her Aunt, 'I am at the conference. See you in your session. Can we get together?' Then she sat back as the keynote speaker started her talk.

The day went by as was expected at an academic conference. The day's keynote speaker finished and then everyone shuffled off either to the breakout session they had chosen or to the bar. There were even some people who simply hung out at the bar and when an interesting session came up would ask others arriving at the bar to borrow their registration badges. They would then attend while the other person sat in the bar and drank. Once in a great while a session would actually erupt in a heated discussion about some literary concept. One rumor had it that in 'years past' there was some vicious name calling! While Daria was certainly passionate about her chosen field she was not unreasonably enamored of its place in the world. In fact, she had to chuckle about other rumors of how in 'years past' fist fights erupted in either a session or 'out back.' She surmised that if true it probably had some relationship to time spent in the bar.

Daria was headed to her presentation when she felt her phone vibrate. Looking at the display there was a text from her Aunt Amy. It read, 'Dinner 2nite at 7 in hotel? C u in lobby.' Daria texted back 'C u there.'

Daria arrived at her session. The chair's assistant was setting up the presentations. Daria gave him her data stick and he set up her presentation as well. She would be the third out of five in the session. Each person had 20 minutes – 15 to present and 5 for questions. Daria sat down and awaited her turn. She was actually somewhat excited. It looked like the small room was almost half filled! Whenever a presenter had 20 or more in the presentation it was a real success.

The first two papers were interminable. They were at best arcane comparisons of Latin American and African themes. Then it was Daria's turn. The chair introduced her and gave a brief overview of her resume. Daria was quickly standing and facing a room full of people. Her topic: French Influences in German Water Corpse Literature. This was material drawn from her doctoral thesis. As she started her presentation she was surprised that it was not fear that seemed to grip her. It was boredom! During the presentation she had to work hard to add inflection to her speech, gesture, and make eye contact with the audience. It would have been easy to deliver the talk in total deadpan while standing motionless. When she finished there were several people who complemented her diagramming of the subject to make it clearer. Daria thought that it was helpful having an accountant as a husband! After she was done she sat down and waited patiently as the other presenters came forward. Finally, it was over.

….

Daria was standing in the lobby in a blue print sundress and white flat sandals. She was thinking how much more comfortable she was than in her pantsuit. That is when she saw her Aunt Amy emerge from behind a pillar in the spacious area. Amy's auburn hair was showing some gray framing her oval face. But Daria's favorite aunt still had a great figure and turned more than a couple heads in the lobby. Amy walked up to Daria.

"Hi Daria," Amy said.

"Hi Aunt Amy," Daria replied.

Amy put her hand on Daria's shoulder. Daria didn't flinch. Amy was allowed to touch her. "You know you should just call me Amy, especially here at the conference. And I'm not the only Aunt here – Aunt Daria!"

"I know. I got the call from Tyler at the office just before heading to the airport. I think Quinn and Elias are supposed to go home today. Anyway, it is kind of hard after all these years not to call you Aunt Amy. Ingrained habit I guess."

Amy smiled. "Your mother called me last night. I haven't heard her so excited in years! For once she was excited in a good way and not just mad about something relating to Rita. I guess becoming a grandmother is better than fighting with your sister! Let's go get some dinner. Afterall you are eating for two!"

"That is what I keep telling myself," Daria replied as they walked toward the hotel's fine dining restaurant.

Once they were seated and perusing the menu Amy asked Daria, "So, how is your pregnancy going?"

"So far, so good. My first ultrasound went well. I am gaining weight at the right rate. As you can see I am avoiding alcohol and the same goes for caffeine. I try to walk around my building every day now that it is cold. I will take 'the long way' to class to increase my number of steps. I'm getting a little swelling in my ankles, however. And of course I take my vitamins and go to my prenatal appointments."

"I assume Tom is dealing well with your pregnancy?"

Looking over her menu Daria answered in total deadpan, "Of course. You know Tom. He is so in love with me that he will do anything. I think if I asked him to carry me up and down the stairs he would do it – at least until his back broke!" Both women laughed. As she finished her comment the waiter walked up and took their order.

Amy asked, "What about life in the ivory tower? Are you enjoying being a professor?"

Daria smiled at her aunt and answered, "Well, at Lawndale State we joke that the ivory tower is more like a mud brick hut! We seem to be caught in the uncomfortable middle. We are not specifically a state research university – where it is publish or perish – nor are we totally a teaching institution. Our basic teaching load is three classes per semester and we are expected to do original research. Tenure decisions are not the classic 'publish or perish,' yet you better have some publications in at least a couple of decent journals plus papers in the proceedings of conferences like this one. Thank goodness they have not gone down the path of using the number of times your work is cited by others to determine your fate! Along with that you need to be effective and well rated in the classroom. So, you wind up having to do both teaching and research reasonably well, though you cannot focus on one and then neglect of the other."

"Sounds like it keeps you busy."

"It does. In my three classes I teach about a hundred students total. That is quite a few papers to grade every week! I try to stagger longer assignments so that I do not have more than one class' essays to grade in a given week. Mid-term exams and finals are more challenging, since they tend to occur at the same time. I probably spend a minimum of 10 hours per week grading. While I love the freedom I have as a professor to do what I want, sometimes it is a job!"

Their meals arrived and Daria realized that she was really hungry. Then she remembered that lunch had been a couple granola bars and a bottle of water. She had ordered pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans almandine. The meal was both nutritious and would not make her or the baby uncomfortable.

As they ate Amy went on with her line of questioning, "So do you have any graduate students yet?"

"I have one master's student. He is researching vampire literature. My department chair wants me to serve on a couple of doctoral committees before I take on a doctoral student. I'm fine with that. He has promised to place me on two committees this semester. I think it is more to understand the dynamics of the faculty than anything relating to the student."

"I am kind of surprised that Lawndale State has doctoral programs," Amy commented.

"We get a few doctoral students. Most are international students who will become university faculty back in their home countries. They want to get their degrees somewhere that English is the national language. Frankly, our doctoral programs are not that difficult to get into. However, the other faculty members have told me we are not 'easy' on the foreign doctoral students. They have to be fully fluent in English by the time they are done. We expect them to speak and write as nearly native speakers."

Amy just looked at Daria and said, "It is certainly easier to deal with written than spoken language."

"All of our full-time doctoral students get teaching assistantships and are expected to perform at the level of junior faculty. We observe them in the classroom as part of their evaluation before their comprehensive exams, which they have to pass before being allowed to start their doctoral theses."

"Sounds like a solid program," Amy said.

"Actually, it is. It may not be the doctoral program at Columbia I went through, but I believe that we turn out competent graduates who will do well in their positions."

Amy smiled at her niece. She then commented, "I'm proud of you, Daria. I like seeing you take pride not only in your work, but your institution as well."

Daria deadpanned, "Some days I feel that I need to be placed in an institution. Other days my colleagues make me feel like I already am. You should have seen our most recent department meeting." Daria and Amy both laughed at the comment. Then Daria asked, "So what are you doing now Aunt Amy?"

"I'm now at the point in my career where I manage the genres of books that we publish. I worked my way up from basic editing to managing individual authors to managing a specific genre to now overseeing how we strategically select genres to best compete in the marketplace. I try to anticipate readers' tastes and be the first to satisfy their demands. Sometimes it means trying to create a whole new genre or sub-genre to open up opportunities for both the company and authors."

As she finished what was on her plate Daria remarked, "That sounds challenging."

"It is," Amy replied. "That is why I travel so much. You can only get so much information from surveys and sales data. What is really needed is to get out of the office and go talk to readers and authors. Different regions have different tastes in books. I am here at this conference to talk to professors, like you, who potentially see new writers emerging. I want to see their work, but I want to see it after you have had a chance to help them develop their talent."

Daria said in total deadpan, "You don't think that the whole process of higher education forces a bland sameness onto the young writers destroying their very souls?"

Amy laughed and with a wry smile retorted, "It doesn't on the good ones, does it Melody?" referring to Daria's books about her fictional spy Melody Powers.

"Touché," Daria replied.

Amy went on, "You do things like teach them to write in complete and grammatically correct sentences, conceptualize their story line, and even read widely to understand how other authors convey their ideas. There is nothing worse than trying to read the work of an untrained writer. One that writes as they speak. It is especially bad if that writer misuses words and ignores the rules of grammar. Even if the story is compelling poor technique can make it unreadable."

Daria nodded her head, "Yeah. As Jane has said to me about artwork – 'suck is not a style.'"

Amy chuckled and then replied, "Precisely. Faulkner could write in his style because he was Faulkner. Someone who has read one of his books trying to imitate that style is just kind of pathetic."

"You can say the same about Hemingway," Daria injected.

"True. So, tomorrow I want to talk to your colleagues about spotting and developing talent from the publisher's standpoint. Hopefully I will get good attendance at the session."

"Serving refreshments will definitely help. I have noticed with faculty members, 'If you feed them, they will come.' As long as the session is not scheduled at the same time as 'happy hour' I think you will be fine. This bunch really likes their liquor."

"We will have beer and wine, but maybe I should hold the session in the bar," Amy said.

"The only problem with that is that you would then get some of the old lechers hitting on you. Some of them are so desperate they even hit on me!"

"You are an attractive young woman Daria."

"Thanks. But, I will stick with Tom. He is faithful, loyal, and totally devoted to me – oh God, it sounds like I am describing a dog!" Daria said putting her face in her hands.

"There are certain similarities between dogs and men," Amy observed. "Now let's order some dessert and coffee."

"Sure, as long as the coffee is decaffeinated and the desert is free of chocolate, since chocolate has caffeine."

Amy observed, "You poor thing. You really are sacrificing for this pregnancy."

"I know. I guess that means I will be a good mom," Daria replied.

The two women enjoyed their desserts and more conversation. Daria had to admit that even with decaffeinated coffee crème brulee was a great desert. When they were finished they headed to their rooms to get a good night's sleep.

…

"No adventure. No one stalking you. No one is even hitting on you. It sounds really boring," Jane Lane said to her best friend.

Looking at Jane on the screen of her phone Daria replied, "It is, though after the trip to Europe I have had enough adventure for a while. Oh, and one guy did hit on me. But, I like a nice boring conference with other professors. It is both intellectually stimulating and entertaining when one of them gets passionate about unimportant minutiae."

"What?" Jane asked.

"You know – unimportant little stuff," Daria clarified.

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?" Jane replied.

"I did. The best part has been getting to see my Aunt Amy. We had dinner together and then I went to her special session on developing new authors."

"How did those go?"

Daria answered, "Dinner was great. It was good to catch up on things and talk about Quinn. The session was hilarious."

"I thought you said sessions were boring. How can they be hilarious?"

"Aunt Amy is smarter and quicker on her feet than most of the professors attending the session. As she talked about what QuickCanon was looking for there were a couple of guys in the audience who took great exception to the idea that she wants to publish stories and books people will actually read. Such things are just not sufficiently literary! We need more books examining the evils of capitalism from the perspective of the chicken who will wind up on the dinner table. We need to expose the chicken's pitiful life and gruesome death and what that chicken is thinking in its last second on the planet. How do the smells of blood and death weigh upon its mind before it is 'processed'? Of course the implication is that we humans are processed by the evil industrial complex just like the chicken."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm using hyperbole, but honestly from some of the things that were said I am not exaggerating that much."

"I think I will stick to painting. At least I don't have to listen to fellow artists unless I really want to."

"It was fun watching Amy take these guys apart. One of the things she talked about was the simple fact that the only way to have funding to pay for the publishing of stories about doomed chickens was to have successful mass market products creating sufficient profits. No profits. No deathly boring chicken stories.""

"She makes a good point. I take commissions for works that I am not that excited about because it pays the bills. It also allows me to do my own work."

"Amy's point exactly. I thought it was kind of ironic that her company provided chicken wings as the main item on the snack buffet. They even had jerk sauce for dipping!"

Jane laughed. Then she cleared her throat and said, "So on another topic, have you planned my bachelorette party yet?"

In perfect deadpan Daria responded, "Of course, Jane. Everything is set. We are going to meet at your place and then go to a restaurant I picked out that has a separate party room. There will be food, drinks, and we will all watch the movie 'My Dinner with Andre.' We can then have a discussion about its meaning and how the two people having dinner together developed their vastly different worldviews."

Jane stared at her phone in stunned silence for a moment. "You know you are going to Hell, right?"

Daria smiled, "Not if I believe Father Tim! Seriously, I'm not going to tell you anything. The limo will pick you up at 7:00 pm that night."

"So how is dear old Mr. O'Neil? Is he really a better priest than he was an English teacher."

Daria smiled at the screen. "He is. Believe it or not he is actually doing some very good things in the community which make a difference. I've worked a few Saturdays at his food bank. His style and compulsive empathy are very effective for getting significant donations. There are people in Lawndale not going hungry this evening because of his work."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"I have to go, Jane. They're calling my flight. We'll talk more next week about your wedding plans. Say 'hi' to Jim for me."

"OK. Bye Daria," Jane said and ended the call.

…..

Friday morning Daria sat in her office preparing for class. It was always a little disconcerting being in the same place and doing the same thing at the end of a week as you were doing at the start of the week, but there was a whole trip to another city, meetings, and a presentation in between. Of course it was always nice when she or Tom returned from a trip. They always made certain to celebrate. With both of them returning from trips the celebration was especially satisfying! Next week it would be the same only without the traveling.


	14. Watch This Space!

**Watch This Space!**

I hope that you are enjoying "Daria Takes Charge." This book is not yet finished! Daria has more adventures coming up. I will be posting chapters as they are finished. Check back regularly to see what is new.

 _Daria is the property of MTV and the characters from Daria are used here without permission. This is a work of fan fiction and is meant solely for the enjoyment of those who choose to read it. The material is not for sale and no profit is to be derived from it._


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